The Hammer Falls
by danAlwyn
Summary: Part One of Acts of War. As TK faces his greatest challenge, and with the other digidestined helpless, the war hangs in the balance. Has hope the power to prevail in this time of troubles?
1. Episode I

Disclaimer: I still own nothing

Disclaimer:I still own nothing.Nothing, nothing, nothing! HAHAHAHAHA!

ahemsorry, I'll try to keep better control of myself.This is a work of fiction, and is not a work for profit.

Author's Note:This is the meat of the story that I wrote for my brother.Or started writing anyway.I never can get very much done at one time.It follows the prologue, Storm Warnings, and if you want background information, you should read that.However, it is not that essential for the story.It is supposed to act more like the TV show than some stories, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you like your stories.I think this shouldn't be posted, but my brother thinks its good enough, so I decided to try it and see.

Oh yes, and it is looooong…

Episode I:Torn Apart 

The voices are obscured in darkness, hidden in shadows, yet still they speak, quiet and careful they are, yet full of power.

"Today."

"Today?"

"Yes, it begins again."

The Citadel cruiser _Matherion_ prowled over the darkened farther reaches of Refarhk, enjoying the calm of the desert before the hot burning of the sun could once again work its way over the far horizon and stare down at them like a baleful eye.Unlike her water bound counterparts, the cruiser was a floating fortress, a construct of floating steel and burnished strange metal alloys that floated two hundred meters off the ground.Three soccer fields in length, the huge armor-plated broadsides looked out at the calm desert, a testimony to the power and force and ingenuity of the engineers who had built her.Her gaze however was fixed elsewhere, both electronically and physically on the twisted area of space and time that formed the world of Refarhk's connection to another world, somewhere else in the far-flung reaches of space and time.

Captain Mary Amelaise caressed the smooth metal under her hand, enjoying the feel of her captain's chair.She knew, as did every member of the bridge crew that bustled around her, exactly what this duty entailed, and how many lives depended on it.They also knew exactly what the cost should have been, exactly how such a cost might be extracted.Now they floated, calm in the peace, but awaiting the coming of the storm.Beside them, surrounding them in a faint cloud-like pattern were the dots of a dozen fliers, a squadron of heavies out from the carriers back at the exit point, lead by a giant Garudamon.The twelve Digimon contingent and the cruiser itself presented an awful lot of firepower, especially for a world that was as empty as this one seemed to be.But the future was already written in concrete, and Mary knew the truth, that soon this empty world would be the sight of spilled blood and disintegrated digital data.

"Captain!" the shout and the tension behind it sent her tactical officer's voice up two notches."We have multiple transit signatures on the transit point.We are tracking an emerging vessel."He looked down for a moment and then looked up again, face utterly expressionless as any granite monument."Confirmed target sir.We have one enemy Dreadnought at sixty-five kilometers range."A Dreadnought outgunned their own vessel several times over.

"General Quarters." Mary was calm."Helm, bring us around and get us out of here.Garudamon, I want you to cover us on our way out."

"Confirmed."

"You got it Captain."

"Second transit sir.Dreadnought, headed straight through." A pause."Another Dreadnought.Another Dreadnought.Another…wait, I have new contact, confirm Supercarrier contact."

Mary froze, as did everyone on the bridge.Her cruiser could outrun the Dreadnoughts, two kilometers of floating battlestation, with ease, but a Supercarrier meant that they had enough fast long-range Digimon to saturate her fire control.And Digimon outside of their lumbering carriers moved much faster than her capital ship could.Even as new data screamed off about launch vectors and incoming threats, Mary remembered the words that were burned into her memory, the words that mounted the banner in her office, and now she remembered what they meant.

"Garudamon, we're going to have to go to Able Three.Get out of here.Your squadron can outrun those aerials.We're just not fast enough.We'll cover you while you get away."

The huge bird Digimon gazed back out at her for a second, eyeing her carefully, observing her every movement, every nuance of her expression, for a brief second.Then he nodded his massive head."I understand Captain."She paused for a brief moment, as if searching for the words and then, finding none, nodded."An honor serving with you."

Mary nodded, unwilling to trust her voice, and the communications link went dead.She turned with empty eyes toward her tactical officer."All right, I want a full oblique approach, cross their bow and hope that we get a few moments while they retarget their fire control."

"Sir, that will lower our missile engagement range.We don't have enfilade fire capacity.We'll lower our salvo speed by almost thirty percent."

"That's all right Commander.We won't get a second salvo off anyway." Mary met her subordinate's eyes briefly, and that one gaze said everything.After that he said nothing, and there was nothing to say.

Captain Mary Amelaise was right.The cruiser _Matherion_ died before it could get a second missile salvo off.

Odaiba looked beautiful in the dawn.As rosy fingers of light peered over the horizon, trailing their way across the sky the buildings, covered with their glass and metal outsides reflected the light in glittering, shimmering cascades across the horizons.Hikari Kamiya stood up in the middle of the balcony and looked out toward the sunrise, already dressed for school and ready to go.Behind her she could hear the close of a door as her older brother Tai managed to get himself up and moving, finally making it to the front room.

"Hey Kari." His voice sounded tired.Kari giggled at him as she turned around, his hair looked even more out of control than usual.For a moment she wondered how he had even managed to get that to happen, as his hair was usually so unruly that it was a surprise that it did not attack him each morning.

"Good morning Tai." She smiled in a happy tone of voice that she knew would drive him mad.

He blinked at her, and then glared and then went back to trying to wake himself up before High School started.Kari just grinned impudently and went back to watching the sun rise, wishing, for a moment, that she could stroke Gatomon into wakefulness beside her, feeling the beauty of the soft feline under her fingers.Gatomon had gone back to the Digital World, partially to get away from the crowded conditions in the human world, but mostly to be around other friends who were not quite ready to come to the real world.

"Kari, there's an envelope taped to the door for you!" Kari's mother called out in a loud voice, making Tai wince again.She entered looking puzzled."I wonder why?"

She took the envelope and examined it.It was plain white, in rough paper on which was written, in unfamiliar handwriting in black ink: To Kari, From a friend.

She opened the envelope and tipped it out.Instead of a letter there was an elegantly carved white ring, looking as if it had been crafted in marble.She looked at it briefly and turned it over several time, trying to satisfy her curiosity.Whatever it was, it was finely crafted, there was not a mark on it, and the only decoration it had was a tiny symbol on the inside, at the top, the mark of the Crest of Light.Kari examined it for another moment, and then, carefully and quietly put the ring on her finger.It gleamed once and flamed, and then faded out into normal ivory incandescence.She shrugged, and then grabbed the odd computer she had gotten and placed it carefully in her backpack.Something was happening today.

Another shadowy scene, another set of voices.Then a great calamity, a loud bang, and a sudden silence.Then a voice.

"Let the hunt begin."

"So," Kari walked alongside TK, Davis on her other flank.Ken was behind them with Yolei.Cody followed all of them as he got ready to head off to his own school, right across the street. "did you guys get some studying done for the test in Science this morning."

"Ken study?" Davis joked"When does he do that, and why would I need to study?"

"So you can stay on the soccer team." TK suggested.

"Very funny EW."

"EW?When did I become an E?"

Davis shrugged uncomfortably."I dunno.I just ran out of letters that went good with T."

Everyone laughed.Then Kari tried again."Did anybody study?"

"I did." TK volunteered."I can give you a quick hand before class if you need it."

Kari smiled up at him."Thanks TK." She told him, and he grinned back.Davis just growled.

There was a sudden flash of darkness.Kari gasped suddenly, the air driving itself out of her chest in a sudden rush.Ken blinked and suddenly dropped back in a guarded fighting position.TK narrowed his eyes and threw his backpack clear suddenly, dropping down to fight whatever had just occurred.Nobody else reacted except to stare at the other kids.

"Uh, guys…" Yolei sounded almost timid."What's going on?"

"Why are you looking like that?" Cody asked curiously, looking around.He saw nothing and then looked back at them puzzled.Davis just jerked his head around, looking for something.

The sidewalk in front of them contorted, suddenly twisting into blackness, a cloud so dark that it made the night fog look positively illuminating.Out of that blackness came a shape, twisting into images and figures that turned their stomachs, even though they could not see it properly.For a moment, the shape just writhed there, striking out with various tentacles of pure darkness, holding them paralyzed in fear.Then a voice spoke, the voice of a thousand corpses moaning in unrest, reaching out from beyond death to tear at the living.

"So you are the Digidestined." The voice cackled, "So young, so unready, so tempting.You have the potential to be of much trouble to me, much trouble indeed.I should just destroy you right here, rend you to pieces, rip you to shreds and listen as your doomed souls whisper in torment forever.You can't stop me, nobody can." The Darkness came closer, floating, writhing, creeping, tendrils of thought moving out to ensnare the children and rend the flesh off their bones.

"Stay Away!" Ken's voice, normally controlled, was now high pitched and weak, sounding like the frail and breakable thing it was.

TK said nothing, but merely hunched lower, preparing for his attack.His hands rose slowly, and his eyes narrowed, measuring his chances.

Kari thrust out a hand to ward the creature away, the hand on which she had placed her ring.Suddenly, the ring exploded into ivory flame, burning as bright as the creature was dark, sending arcing loops of fire out to cleanse the air and fight the overwhelming darkness.The creature jumped back, and now its voice was the scream of the vengeful who dwelt in purgatory forever.

"_He_ has been here!" the scream rose to a higher pitch, and now there was a new note in it.Fear."I cannot, will not, incur his attentions.Yet this world and its shadow must be mine.Therefore I shall cast you away, far away from here.And you will die, oh yes, twisting forever, lost in the realms of time, abandoned by your friends.Yes, Digidestined, your time ends here."

There was a sudden flash of darkness, and then the six children were falling, falling, into forever.

"As you know," the principal intoned dully, "today is the start of your independent projects.You will be expected to complete them in a timely manner.Your groups are assigned by room."Everyone in the auditorium split and headed for the door.

Tai brushed his hair back with one hand as he entered his room.Izzy was sitting there already, tapping at his computer."Hey Izzy," Tai called, "Do you think that we got the group that we wanted."

Izzy nodded."I got at least the five of us.The principal was very receptive of what I was saying to him.Being the school's star student occasionally has its advantages, and this happens to be one of them.I managed to get all of us here, but one student is from out of school, and I couldn't influence that choice."

"Yes!" Tai thrust his fist in the air.

Just then Sora entered the room, dropping her backpack on the ground beside them."What are you so excited about Tai?" she asked, taking in his awkward position.

Tai blushed suddenly."I was just excited that Izzy managed to get us all in the same group."

Sora smiled."That's great Tai, but it wasn't that important, was it.It's just for a few days, right?"

Tai calmed down a bit."I guess, but it seemed important that we all be together."

"Hey guys!" Matt and Mimi entered, looking happy to find themselves together.They quickly sat down in a little cluster.

There was a knock on the door.A tall, brown haired woman entered, followed by a shorter dark-haired man and another black-skinned man, all of them carrying briefcases of some sort.

"Good morning students.I understand that you know your last member, Mr. Kido." The woman told them.

Joe entered, waving at the others.They all grinned and broke into exclamations of happiness.The woman waited a moment for them to subside.

"I see that you do know each other.Well, I'll be blunt.You are supposed to pick a project here that will demonstrate your grasp over the different things that are required of you as students.In addition, you are supposed to participate in something that will change the world for the better.Correct?"

They nodded.

"We have a project for you, but I have to warn you, it is potentially very dangerous.In fact, it could be the most dangerous thing you've ever done.I will say that it will help a lot of people.The question is, will you accept it."

"Don't worry." Matt told her confidently."We've done more dangerous things before.A lot of them."

Sora elbowed Mimi and they giggled.

"Well, I suppose…"

Beside all of them the sky, still lighting up from the dawn exploded into tendrils of flame.There was a sudden explosion that shook the windows as something went up in the distance.Everyone turned to stare.

"What in the…" Tai stammered, his mouth falling open.

The three people at the front shook off their shock immediately.Physically, they wrenched the other children out of their seats and hurled them towards the door, pushing and shoving as they came along afterwards.

"Come on!" the woman screamed above the sudden cacophony from outside."We've got to make it to the computer lab."

"The computer lab?" Izzy shouted back as other students begin to run through the hallway."Shouldn't we get to somewhere safer?"

The shorter man grabbed his shoulder."You'll be safe enough there." He told Izzy quickly, jerking him on.

Another explosion rang out, causing pieces of plaster to fall from the ceiling and fall around the floor like snow.Other people where now screaming, and the sounds echoed around the corridor, deafening anyone trying to listen.

Then, three people approached from the top of a low rise.All of them were wearing black business suits, straight ties, and a number of other items suggesting they were proper business people.Somehow, they looked wrong, as if someone had lost the ability to draw them straight, and the lines that should have been right were just a little bit crooked.

Beside Izzy the short man swore violently.

The woman stopped, suddenly standing straight up, thrusting herself in front of the group, forcing them to stop.Her features, quite pretty actually, hardened into granite, and her eyes flamed in the sudden calm that engulfed them.

_The eye of the storm_, Izzy thought quietly.

"I'll take it from here.You guys get to the computer room, and get them going." Her voice, suddenly very quiet carried perfectly through the chaos.

"Amanda…" the short man spoke up, extending an arm.The tall man laid his hand on his companion's gently, reminding him of something.The smaller man sighed and nodded.

"Go!" the woman thundered.Then, to herself, "This is going to get ugly…"

The two men grabbed the Digidestined and started jerking them off to the side, almost dragging them behind, as they gaped.Something was not right, everyone knew it.Besides the explosions and fire outside, the screaming inside, something big was about to happen right in front of them and they had no idea what it was.

The woman, Amanda stopped moving at all.A light seemed to float out of her heart and solidify in front of her, and for a moment she was bathed with the light of a thousand stars.Then her voice rang out over the hallway, like bells in a tall cathedral filling a narrow valley, bouncing and rebounding a thousand times over until the halls rang with a million different notes and inflections.

"The Seal of Light….The Embodiment of Life….Evolve to…."

For a moment the light just increased, then it changed color, passing through every member of the rainbow, ascending up into the heavens, as if where she stood was some point through which dreams passed upwards.Her figure got so bright it became blurry, indistinct, glowing so bright that they were all forced to close there eyes.Then, as they stood, the light battering through their closed eyelids, there was a sudden concussion so powerful that they could feel their hearts rattle in their ribs, yet they all knew that not a single stone had moved.

"The Guardian of Light!" the voice was even louder now, and it rang triumphantly over the world, setting every bell vibrating with raw energy.

"Oh boy, now it gets nasty." The short man muttered looking over his shoulder.

Where Amanda had been standing there was now another figure.Faintly feminine, but not really, standing sheathed in brilliantly glowing white armor, letting fire run out of it like little dancers making their way onto the floor.A set of four armored wings protruded from its back, glowing slightly more golden.A massive ivory and gold sword was resting lightly in the figures right hand, and a staff bearing twisted silver and gold metal on the surface was in its left hand.Everywhere you looked the Guardian was glowing with inner fire, covered in angles and hard metal, except for the eyes, which were still too bright to look at.Although, judging from the dimensions, it was approximately the same height as a very tall human, it somehow looked much taller.Diamond-like bolts of light reflected off those impossibly polished surfaces, raining down on squinting eyes like a rainbow made of silver.

"Go!" the voice thundered, somehow echoing a thousand times over in the enclosed space.

"All right, all right!" the short man started them running again."I can take a hint."

Behind them there was a terrible crash, and then the light faded and the sounds of combat erupted, somehow farther away. The sounds of destruction got steadily farther away, even if they were still dreadfully loud and they still rattled the walls.More students ran out of their classrooms.From the expressions on their faces Izzy was suddenly glad that none of them were looking backward.The combination of fear and awe and the questioning look that told him that the people watching were wondering whether to cower with fear or simply wet their pants where they were told him volumes about what was proceeding behind him.

Within a few minutes of running around fallen lockers and toppled plants the six students and their two companions ran up a flight of stairs and into a small, blue painted door.Fortunately the computer room was mostly undisturbed, computers sitting on plain white tables, monitors dark, beeping occasionally.The lights were flickering and the printer was making funny noises, but other than that, everything looked like it normally did.

The short man turned to his companion once all of them were within the room."Sama, how about we get some air cover up here.I feel positively naked in this building."

Sama shook his head, black skin gleaming."I tried, Cortell, I tried.We've got a Paildramon standing by for air suppression, but I don't think we'll get any more.Most of them are tied up fighting all over the city."

A sudden explosion rocked the building.

Sama looked up again."And I wouldn't get anywhere close to where a Guardian was mixing it up with anything."

"Right, I guess we can deal with that." Cortell turned and grabbed the keyboard nearest to him.Then, as the Destined looked on, he started talking to air.

"Gennai, I need the transfer program to standby, and the update files online.Activate the secondary tensors, but leave the primaries offline for now.Bring transit to standby and prepare for a hard bounce.And then tell the transit teams to standby.I want the portals locked down now.I don't care who gives authorization orders."

A moment's pause and then he began to shoot out technical talk, spitting numbers and symbols into the air.He stopped even working on the computer and began to type into empty air, and complicated patterns of lights began to jerk around his head.Another explosion punctuated his computations.

Sama jerked his head around."How did he… never mind.All of you, you've got a choice."

The others reacted as if they had been slapped."All right, here it is, flat out.We're in a war with the forces of darkness, a war that you've been conscripted to fight before, but never like this.Now the battle threatens thousands of worlds.The bad guys already struck first, they kidnapped the other Digidestined" he ignored the gasps of shock, "and sent them spinning into the void.They're supposed to rot there forever, but Andrel has that covered, he'll take care of that."Two windows exploded inward.A light fixture broke down, half-falling from the ceiling in a shower of sparks that illuminated the room briefly.

"He'll be able to grab your friends and take them to another world, but it's a world that isn't directly connected with Earth.It will be up to you guys to save them, if you choose to do so.I won't mince words, it will be hard, the most dangerous thing you've ever done, and there is a high probability that someone will die while doing it.That's your choice."

"How do we…" Izzy began while the others were trying to catch up to events.

"Remember the gate in Myostismon's castle.It's still intact somewhere in the Digital World.If you can find it, you can make it to your friends, and you can possibly save them.But it will be hard.You have to choose, because we're going to close off all transportation between worlds shortly."

Tai stood up suddenly, shaking his head.He mouthed a single word."Kari."

Matt stood beside him and touched his shoulder.

Tai coughed."I know that you guys may be uncomfortable with the idea, and I'd be totally cool if you decided not to come, but the two of us…"

"Don't be silly." Joe stood up."We're a team Tai.We may not act like it sometimes, and we may fight and not talk to each other, but we're a team.I think we all know that, but even if we don't want to admit it, I'm going."

Mimi stood up."Count me in."

Izzy gave all of them a thumbs up and shut his laptop with a snap."All systems go."

Sora grinned at them."You think I'm letting you guys go anywhere without me?Who would get you out of trouble?"

"I guess it's decided." Izzy confirmed.

Sama was smiling."Good, we expected as much.Hold out your digivices."

They each held up their blue-white device in front of them.Suddenly they swirled, turning into twisting patterns of light.

"Transformation commencing." Cortell reported, still concentrating on what he was doing.

The light swirled again and then solidified in a rush, taking a new, but recognizable form.

"Hey!" Tai yelled."We have D3s now!"

"Prodigious." Izzy confirmed.

The D3s in their hands blinked rapidly.They were all the same color as their earlier Digivices, but were definitely of the newer model.

"All right." Cortell jerked around to face them."We can transport you to the Digital World and the Digital World only right before we shut everything down."

Another explosion rattled the room.There was a crash from further down the hallway.

"Unfortunately, we already shut down the direct connection.We're going to have to send you through the back route, and you don't want to know about that.Let's just say that we'll bounce you off Citadel.It won't be pleasant."

"How unpleasant?" Joe asked.

"It won't do any physical damage, but it will feel like you've run into a brick wall at full run."

Joe winced, but looked determined.

"We'll have someone explain it to you on the other end.Here you go!"

Suddenly, the computer room shrank away, and they were flying, rushing away, the worlds slipping beneath them like a torrent, images and bits and pieces speeding past them so fast they could only recognize occasional images.Everything else just blended together into a rainbow of different colors.

And then, for a moment, there was a huge city of golden-white spires, tall towers, massive palaces stretching towards the heavens…

Cortell had lied.It was nothing like hitting a brick wall at full tilt.It was more like what it must feel like when someone falls out of an airplane and hits concrete, the sudden feeling as if the lungs are being driven out through the backbone.For a moment, the image of the towering city froze, and then it rushed away, as if they were being pulled back at enormous speeds and vanished into nothing as the world faded away.

Tai groaned and lifted his head, squinting in the sudden sunlight.He put a hand in front of his eyes to block out the light that was streaming in from above, raining down on his head.He groaned again, and then sat up.

Around him lay a number of other bodies, picking themselves up.Matt was lying next to him, Sora was at his feet, Joe and Izzy were a step away and Mimi was shaking her head to his right. The ground was a grassy meadow, in the middle of a gentle forest, with faint tips of mountains rising in the distance.Above them the sun gleamed, illuminating the gentle green leaves of gnarled oak trees and the petals on the pink flowering plants all around them.Everyone groaned a few more times.Tai shook his head to clear it.

"Well." Izzy blinked and sat up."It looks like we all made it.But what happened to our clothes?"

Tai jerked around to look at Izzy and then down at himself.Instead of his usual school uniform he was wearing his blue shirt and his jeans, Izzy was wearing a red shirt and pants, Matt his black clothes, Sora her red shirt and blue jeans, Mimi a pink shirt and flared jeans, Joe his navy blue shirt and dark slacks.There other clothes were nowhere in sight.They picked themselves up slowly.

"What happened?" Matt asked, holding his head."I mean, does anybody remember what happened when we hit that wall?"

"That must have been the bounce he was talking about.I think it misaligned my cranium." Izzy shook himself again."So, Tai, what do we do now?"

"Uh…" for some reason Tai could not think of a thing.Sure, Kari's face was echoing in his head but for some blasted reason…

"…then launch the reserve squadrons to cover the flank.I want the southern Battle Squadron to have enough time to get their shields back up again before they go into missile range again.If we lose that squadron you can kiss your carriers goodbye anyway.Have the gunships take the forward groundpounders, and then they're supposed to stick to the battleships like they were nailed there.Got that?" the voice appeared out of nowhere directly behind them, causing them to leap up and turn around, searching in vain for the source of the voice.

Suddenly there was a flare of rainbow light and Gennai was standing in front of them, talking to someone they could not see."Good Admiral, take command of the Fleet."

He turned back to them."Greetings Digidestined.I don't have much time, so I'll try to fill you in fast.You're friends and companions have been kidnapped, and sent to another world.If you remember when I told you how to use Myotismon's gate, I mentioned the existence of other worlds.It is to one of these that your friends are going to arrive any moment now.We can't afford the time to go get them, as we appear to have a war on our hands right now, so you're their only hope.You have to find that gate, and I can't help you.I've sent someone who will aid you, but he's late, and I have to go.Good luck kids, you'll need it."

His imagine suddenly blurred and disappeared.

"Gennai, wait!" Matt yelled.Tai cursed at the suddenly empty air, but it did no good.Gennai disappeared.After a moment Sora went over to him.

"You can cry if you want to Tai.We all know you, and how much Kari means to you."Tai shook his head resolutely, but a few trickles began to roll down his face.Matt just turned away.

"Don't worry, they're tough.They'll be fine." The new voice was louder, gruffer, a challenge to life if there ever was one, clothed in a clear, deep baritone.Everyone turned around in confusion, before Izzy jerked his head up and pointed at the sky."Look!"

Hovering above them was a figure in glowing golden armor.He looked down at them with flashing eyes and then suddenly fell to the ground and transformed into the shorter man Cortell from earlier."Greetings once more, and sorry I'm late.We had to close everything down once Amanda finished cleaning up Japan, the demons made quite a mess of it.But it's all under control now, and don't worry, nobody got killed.We made sure of that."

"What's you name, Cor…something, can you tell us how we can save the others?Gennai said something but…" Sora stammered to a halt as Cortell held out a hand.

"Cortell.Of course I can.Come on, let's get you moving." He gestured and all of the kids started walking, almost without their own volition.

"Here's the abbreviated story.There are forces of darkness of incredible power in the universe.Long ago they discovered the network of interconnected worlds, of which Earth and the Digital World are only parts.That started a war, but that was a long time ago.Let's just say we managed to restore the balance, but it took a lot out of us, and stretched us rather thin.The darkness began to recruit local warlords and despots to cause trouble, to keep us busy, so we countered in kind by creating heroes in many different worlds.You, the Digidestined, were one of our better attempts.But that's neither here nor there.

"The thing is, the Darkness knows how powerful you are, but more importantly, how powerful you can be.That potential scares the Dark, and it needed to eliminate you.However, attacking you directly would have aroused to much attention, especially from _Him_.So they settled for kidnapping the other kids and sending them away.They tried to do the same to you, but we got there first.Anyway, the other kids got sent into the void between worlds.Normally they would be lost there forever, but we know where they are and can rescue them and set them down on a nearby world.The problem is that the Dark already has control of that particular world.They'll have to fight there way out and we don't think that they can do it.However, if you find the gate and make it through, you could be able to tilt the balance.Gennai's the one that tells the future, not me, so I can't say for sure."

"So that's it, we find the Gate and go save the others from some evil thing?Any other clues?" Mimi asked."Like what to wear?"

Cortell grinned."I can't tell you much except this.This war has been long in the planning on both sides.They have filled the Digital World with evil powers, and likewise they have filled the other world with evil as well.We have our hands full as well with other things, you'll be on your own."

"You mean you can't help us?!" Tai exploded, wrenching away from Sora "You mean you're just going to stand there and watch while Kari and the others could get killed!You insensitive…"

"Tai." Cortell's voice could have stopped an avalanche."You're going to have a quarter-million evil Digimon on Earth in three days if somebody doesn't stop them, and that's one of our minor worries.We'll keep the worlds alive while you do your thing, but that's about all we can do.Even for us, five million demons is not an easy task to deal with.This is war, and you're the only ones who can be spared to help your friends."

Tai's voice died off.Cortell touched his shoulder gently and continued slowly."Now, we can do some things to help you.We've taken time offline, so for every day that passes for you and the others, a minute passes in the real world.With luck, nobody will notice that you are missing.That means that you won't have to worry about that part of things, or ruining your life, because we all know how that picks at your brain.We'll drop by to give you advice from time to time, and with any luck…ahhh…here they are."

In the sky, six blots of light appeared suddenly, streaking earthward like homesick meteors, plunging toward the children.There was a moment of fear, a split second of terror and then the lights turned into six confused and flustered Digimon, who dropped to the ground.

"Agumon!" Tai grabbed his friend tight.The others were also greeting their companions.By the time they looked back up, Cortell was grinning again."We have some other things for you."

He handed Tai a pair of goggles, but they looked a little funny, black banded and square, without black boxes attached to both sides."This is one of our field view scanners.We nicknamed them goggles, and thought that you might want them.They work just like binoculars, but they have some extra features that you might find coming in handy."

He walked over to Matt and handed him a harmonica."This is a harmonica, not very surprising, but useful.It has some interesting abilities.You may find it useful."

To Sora he gave a small flower-inscribed stick, about the length of her hand."Don't ask what it is.You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Just don't lose it."

Mimi reached out a hand to receive a gold colored necklace."I don't know, I'm not much of a necklace person…"

Cortell laughed, this time lightly as a spring shower."We specialize in special items.Think of it as your own magic necklace, but with a few more tricks added in for good measure.It will serve you well."

To Joe he handed a small box, gray with a red circle on the front."This is our field first aid kit.It has a guide to the plants and creatures of the Digital World as well as the first aid supplies that you might have been missing.

Izzy got, to his surprise, a laptop."Don't ask what it does." Cortell advised."Don't ask what it can do, you'll have to figure it out for yourself."

He stood up."Now, that's all the help I can give you.You'll have to do the rest yourself.Good luck."

"Wait, can't you tell…" Tai screamed.

"You have to find the gate yourself, or else this is all meaningless." His form wavered like a broken television transmission."Remember, the Dark hates you because the Dark fears you.Their fears are well justified.You have the power within you to beat them.Remember, look within…" then he faded and was gone, blowing out like a candle.

Tai stared, defeated, at the spot for a moment.Then Izzy spoke up."Come on guys, let's find somewhere more protected, and we'll think this out."

Kari got up and shook her head."Where am I?" she asked herself out loud.

The where was pretty obvious, she was inside the school gym, but there was something odd.Everything was quiet, as if the background of Odaiba had disappeared into some sort of stasis, as if the perpetually running cars, trains, airplanes and people had simply vanished.Outside the high windows she could see outside, but there was no sky, none of the buildings that she should have seen, only a dull whiteness, like a bright, overcast day.Everything else was empty.She stood up slowly, suddenly recognizing that she was wearing different clothes.Her school uniform had been replaced by her white shirt and a pair of tan slacks.She shrugged.

"Hello?" she called, letting her voice echo around the gym."Is anybody there?"

There were a few moments of silence and then running footsteps.The door to the gym burst open and suddenly TK, wearing his green pants and shirt with his vest and familiar hat, burst into the room.He skidded to a halt and stared up at her.

"Kari!"

"TK!"

They gave each other a quick hug halfway up the bleachers and then stepped back.

"So what happened?" Kari asked.

"After that thing got us, I blacked out.I woke up in the computer room here, but none of the computers were working.I went and looked outside the windows.You won't believe this, but were floating in some sort of white fog.I don't know how, you can see the whole building, but nothing else.I didn't try getting out of the doors."

They sat quietly for a while, and then Kari perked up."I'm sure we'll find a way out sooner or later."

"Yeah… I guess." TK did not sound very confident.

"Let's check to see if anyone else is here."

They went around the school a few times."No, nobody."

"Play you a game of basketball." Kari grinned at TK shakily, trying not to show her nervousness.What if they…no point thinking about that.

TK smiled back, and a few minutes later, he was soundly beating her at basketball.Kari grabbed the ball, and suddenly broke past him, shooting a perfect two point shot without him even moving.She turned back and grinned at him triumphantly, but broke off in consternation when she noticed that he was staring blankly at the bleachers.

"TK, what's wrong…gasp" Standing on the top of the bleachers, arms crossed was a man.He was wearing a black outfit with a white sash, and his dark brown hair trailed down his back.His face was indistinct, but it was calm, and Kari could feel his smile.

He was also hovering about a foot above the ground.

"What in?" Kari dropped back and clutched TK's arm.

The man floated forward until he was three or so meters away, and then snapped his fingers.The gym, the basketball, the bleachers, everything vanished, and they were alone in the whiteness.Both of them shied back from the sudden change.Then the man spoke.

"You're really very good you know.Any normal human would have been driven mad here, but your subconscious allowed you to create somewhere to be safe, mentally and physically.You don't need it anymore." He snapped again and Ken, Davis, Yolei and Cody appeared, each frozen.Ken was wearing a black, button-up shirt and slacks, while Ken, Davis and Yolei were each wearing the clothes they normally transformed into in the Digital World.

"Where are we?" TK asked.

"You're in the void.It is what lies between the worlds.I can take you to a world on which you can survive, but you will have to find your own way home."

"Can you help us?" Kari asked.

"In more ways than one.But you won't see that much of me.Don't worry, you have everything you need.Good luck.We'll meet again one day."

"Wait…what…"

And then he, and they, were gone.

Kari blinked in the bright sunlight.She and TK were standing in the middle of a clearing at the top of a small hill.Around them on two sides, they could see tall gray mountains stretching off, losing their peaks in the clouds.Everywhere else there were just hills, blocking the view.The other four lay around them unconscious, but a few groans and mutterings convinced the two observers that they were waking up.Quickly they assembled, and Kari related what they had just seen while the others stared in disbelief.

Kari thought of something.She reached back over her head and pulled out the computer device that had gotten to her earlier.When she activated it while everyone else looked on, it beeped, and displayed a message:

Kari-

The Darkness tried to destroy you, but could only banish you and your companions.You have been sent to the world we call Parsifal, a world that is currently under the control of an incredible force of evil.I wish we could have sent you anywhere else, but such as life.In the castle of this evil force is a Gate similar to Myotismon's Gate back in the Digital World that has the ability to take you home.You must defeat this evil to use this gate.The other Digidestined are on their way, but for now, your survival is up to you.Good luck.

There was no signature, just a funny symbol, like a sword.

"Well, that was as clear as mud.I wonder what he was talking about?" Davis jerked up and tried walking around.Ken just frowned and stared at the computer.

"INCOMING!" Davis screamed, pointing up.Six points of light were descending toward them like missiles, howling in aiming at each of the Digidestined.TK blinked once before he was hit in the stomach by something that felt like a bowling ball.He fell back off his feet, losing his breath, hitting the ground hard.On his chest, there was a flash of orange and white as a small mammal shook itself off, wiggling its nose and its two large ears, and then TK was looking into two familiar wide eyes.

"TK?TK, are you all right?TK?"

TK hugged his small companion to his chest hard, smiling and giggling hard at the feel of his friend squirming against his chest."Patamon!"

The others were already hugging their Digimon.They looked just the same as they had the last time they had been together, a few days before.

"All right!" Davis yelled after a moment."I can take on anything now.Evil or not, they're going down."

"Uh, Davis…" Ken started.

"Maybe we should come up with a plan." Cody suggested.

"Are you kidding?We don't need a plan.Veemon and I will scout out the land, we'll find this castle and we'll get back home.Right Veemon?"

"You got it!" the blue lizard exclaimed.

"All right, now that that's settled, here we go…Digi-armor energize!"

Nothing happened.

Everyone looked around.Davis frowned, then his face broke out in panic and he hit his jacket."Hey!" he yelled suddenly, jerking around this way and that. "What happened to my D-Terminal?"

"Mine too!"

"Mine's missing also."

"They're all gone."

Ken was looking around.Something was wrong…

"Of course they're gone you silly fools.Do you think that those fools at Citadel would let them within my grasp?" a voice boomed out loudly.It made Davis' skin crawl just listening to it.

Something dark loomed out above them, growling and resolving itself into a dark cloaked humanoid.Kari's computer screen beeped frantically.

Demon-High Level in Close Proximity

"So you have one of those toys, eh?It won't help you against me."

"Oh yeah!" Davis demanded, raising his D3 in his hand."We'll still stop you.C'mon guys, let's go."

Veemon….Digivolves to…..ExVeemon

The flying blue and white Digimon rose out of the ground."I don't know who you are, but you're going to take quite a ride if you mess with my friends!"

"And not alone either." Yolei rushed up."Let's do it guys."

Hawkmon….Digivolves to ….Aquilamon

Armdilamon….Digivolves to…..Ankylomon.

The bird and the dinosaur thundered in front of the Digidestined.

"Wait for me!" Ken called.

Wormmon Digivolves to ….Stingmon

TK held up his D3, waiting for something to happen, but the light that burned on its screen refused to flare up into fire.He stared at it dumbly"It's not working…"

Kari looked at him and shrugged, indicating that hers was not working either.

"Without them, your chances have become even more pathetic.I am called Khartan, but you can call me Master." The last word was spoken with a sneer."And if you surrender now, I may be lenient."

"Forget that!" Davis yelled."We'll let you have all the lenient you can stomach.Get him guys!"

ExVeemon threw himself forward at full tilt."V-Laser!"

Stingmon's Spiking Strike slammed into the dark creatures shoulder.Aquilamon's Great Horn raked his side, and Ankylomon's Tail Hammer slammed into his stomach. 

"Boom Bubble!" yelled Patomon, feeling that he should contribute something.

The smoke obscured the figure for a moment, and then it cleared, revealing Khartan standing there, looking amused."Was that all you had?"

"This isn't working!" Davis was frustrated."Let's take it to the next level guys.We have the tail ring with us, so we can do it."

"Yeah!" Ken yelled back."Stingmon, time to dance, DNA style."

"Gatomon, you ready?" Yolei asked.

Cody looked at the disconsolate TK and shrugged.

"Let's do it!" Kari howled defiance at the dark figure.

ExVeemon….Stingmon….DNA Digivolve to…..Paildra…Paildra….?

Aquilamon….Gatomon….DNA Digivolve to….DNA Digivolve to….DNA…

"It's not working!" Stingmon called out, fear filling his tone.

Gatomon simply looked up. "I think we have a problem."

"You untrained fools thought that could work here?You're more helpless than I thought!" Khartan was laughing at them now.

"I think…" Davis muttered. "That we're in trouble now."


	2. Episode II

Disclaimer: I still own nothing

Disclaimer:I still own nothing.Especially not Digimon. If you sue me because you think I'm selling licensed products in this story, you have no legal basis, and will get no reward.

Author's Note:Part 2 took a long time to get up, which I apologize for.It's also long, which I also apologize for.It is a continuation of my first published work, so please don't shoot me down to bad for any conventions I may have been ignorant of/ignored/forgotten.Comments and Critical Reviews are warmly welcomed.

Episode II: The Battle Begins 

Tai's Voiceover:All right, I guess I better fill you in.We were in a normal day at school when these guys show up with awesome powers.They told us that the darkness had kidnapped the other Digidestined, and that we had to save them.One of them even Digivolved into the Guardian of Light to save us.They sent us to the Digital World, and told us that we had to find the Gate to other worlds.They told the other kids the same thing, but this dark things called Khartan showed up and they're in deep trouble.I hope they hold out long enough…

Davis groaned.He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.His head hurt all over.He was also strapped to a wall, and that was not improving his disposition any.He blinked and looked around and notice the other five Digidestined strapped to similar walls.Another quick observation showed that their Digimon were in a cage in the corner, and that their D3s were lying on a table in the middle of the room.To one end of the room was a giant red and black crystal, pulsating with unholy light and power that set hair on edge and covered the skin with a creeping sensation.

Khartan entered the room, grinning.He had changed a little, now a flowing mess of black robes fluttering around a central core of blackness.He had two arm-like limbs and two leg-like ones, but they were shadowy and indistinct, deliberately blurred to prevent identification.His face was almost a black mask, and only his eyes, burning red, showed through with any clarity.Each arm had a distinct, black gloved hand with four fingers and a thumb, the best sign of humanity he had.His face seemed to be gloating at the Digidestined's situation.

Behind him, a group of perhaps a dozen Bakemon flooded into the room, looking around and rushing to different computer monitors throughout the room.A moment later there was the sound of machinery beginning to start, gyroscopes and gears beginning to turn.The dark crystal at the end of the room began to pulse faster, increasing its tempo dramatically.

"What are you doing with us?" Davis demanded, anger suffusing his voice.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Ken was just as defiant, making up for his lack of volume with a rock steady voice.

"Can't we talk about this?" Yolei asked, watching the dark figure nervously.

"Of course we can talk little girl.You can tell me all I want to know, and then I'll kill you." Khartan cackled, a very difficult linguistic feat."As for what I want from you, I want what makes you dangerous.The power that was instilled in you to allow you to protect your precious world is very tempting as a prize.If I can suck that power from you into my crystal, I'll be more powerful than ever before and you, well, you'll just be all dried up." he laughed at his own joke.Nobody else did.

"You see, the four of you have a lot of power I could use, and I plan to take it from you with all force possible and leave you gasping in the dust, dried up, brainless and useless.But the true prize is those two." A gloved hand briefly came to rest, pointing at Kari and TK, who were hanging off to one side."The crests of Light and Hope are so powerful that if they can be corrupted, their bearers turned from the Light, I will gain almost unlimited power.Even here I can feel that strength radiating off of them."

"Huh, you can't do that to Kari!" Davis yelled.

"But we gave up the crests!" Kari exclaimed.

TK ignored both of them, he could feel something close trying to talk to them.

"You fools, you really thought that the power of the crests that filled your body would be that easy to destroy.You are pathetic you know that?Ah well, now you pay the price for your foolishness."

He gestured toward one of the monitors and one of the Bakemon grabbed a lever and pulled it.There was a sudden roar as the crystal at one end began to whine with malignant power.

"Hah!" Khartan was gloating now."In a minute you'll be brainless husks, and you two will be my slaves for all time.It's all over now."

"When the other Digidestined get their hands on you…" Davis threatened.

"They'll tear you to pieces." Yolei finished.

"And when that's over, they'll kick you to Mars." Cody put in, voice filled with anger.

"Those other fools will soon have their hands full.Observe."

An image appeared in the air in front of them.A huge column of Digimon, walking through what looked like a barren desert.Kari groaned and felt her heart falter as she watched all of them marching along.Machinedramon, Metalseadramon, Scorpiomon, Triceramon, Marine Devimon, Lady Devimon, Skull Satamon, legions of Bakemon and Nanimon, and hundreds of Digimon and other black things she could not even put names to.Above them floated huge fortresses that made Ken's old base look puny by comparison.And they stretched on for miles, filling the screen with pulsating black power.

"This is one of our armies.It will pass through that desert and use my Gate to travel to the Digital World, and from there to the world you call Earth.And there, it will conquer all that you can throw against it, and soon, both of those worlds will be mine."

Suddenly, a voice spoke up in TK's mind._Tell him this_.

TK opened his mouth and repeated the words that came to his mind."You don't understand, do you?You may be powerful, but we're strong too, and we know how to fight.We've been waiting for you, for this for a long time.Your power may have grown, but we have made advances as well, and we are not impressed.You have no comprehension of what you face now."

Khartan was looking vaguely perturbed.Kari opened her mouth. "TK…" she whispered, alarmed at seeing him acting so far out of character.

"You underestimated us before, and you have underestimated us now." TK was raising his voice intently, eyes never leaving the shifting darkness that was Khartan."And we're ready for you, ready and waiting.And that is why you'll fail.Welcome to the big leagues demonspawn, it's time for round two."

"What are you…" Khartan began, and then, on the image, the world exploded.

The empty desert around the column through which the forces of Darkness marched swirled in the wind, projecting the illusion of nothing.Wind and sand obscured the vision in all directions, and the strangely dark sun reduced visibility tremendously.The forces of Darkness marched through, oblivious to their flanks, watching only the front.

Through that medium of wastelands, a near undetectable message sped to hundreds of places, a single phrase, spoken in a tense, strained and stressed voice.

"This is Charles Martel.It's time to drop the Hammer."

Suddenly, the desert shimmered, and it was not from the heat.When the shimmer stopped the desert was not empty anymore.Forty Dreadnoughts, two kilometer long mountains of floating steel armor and weapons emplacements, along with a full escort of other vessels were standing there.Or more accurately, they sprung leaping toward the throats of their foes with a banshee cry of vengeance on their lips.The forces of the Dark were temporarily paralyzed as, with a roar that could have been heard on the far side of the world, twenty thousand Digimon in the first wave broke away from their Motherships and heavy ground units begin to take up firing positions.And ahead of all them, main batteries with more firepower than an Imperial Dramon's Mega Crusher and an Omegamon's Supreme Cannon put together rushed toward the Dark, bringing fiery death in their wake.

The first wings were gunships, heavy, hard to maneuver large flying Digimon, burdened with external ordinance and extra firepower, roaring in on pre-planned attack vectors like harpoons.Behind them came the fighters, small, lithe Megas and Ultimates outfitted for air superiority conflict, supercharged with energy and leaping off the carrier decks behind them with roars of fury that shook the enemy down to their souls.Even as they roared forward the gunships opened up at maximum range, the awe inspiring blasts of Horn Busters and Double Scissor Claws and other attacks mixing with the manmade fury of externally mounted rockets blasting home.The first casualty, the escorting wings, died almost instantly in that hail of fire, before the first strike wings zeroed in on their pre-assigned victims, and the Dreadnought _Inquisitor_ exploded into fiery wreckage.

Khartan screamed in frustration as the image settled back down, portraying what was really happening.One of the Bakemon looked up."Master, we have contact with forty Dreadnoughts and sixty Battleship class vessels, along with escorts."

"Fourth Wing's entire order of battle." Khartan was now speaking slowly, venomously, his voice dripping with hatred.He turned around quickly, gesturing to the Digidestined behind him."Quickly, start the operation."

Another lever was pulled and the crystal started to shimmer an unholy light, but TK blinked, as nothing happened.

"What's wrong, what's going on?" Khartan was screaming now.

The Bakemon scattered this way and that, looking for the problem behind every control panel.Finally one of them stood up.

"Master, the cables have been cut."

"What!" Khartan screamed."Who cut the cables?" His voice was still rising in pitch, and he suddenly protruded two razor sharp spines from his chest.Yolei screamed at the sight.Ken swallowed.

"I did." the voice was flat, a gauntlet thrown in the night, a challenge to any who heard it.

A figure wearing black clothing jumped down from where he had been unnoticed on the ceiling, landing with barely a whisper in the middle of the floor.

"Courage." Khartan's eyes narrowed in recognition, and his voice was cold and harsh.

"In the flesh." The man called Courage was tall, sharp as a blade and just as strong.His body was straight and tall and powerful, like he was made of coiled springs, waiting to explode.A sword handle protruded from a cloth bundle on his back.

"So, you're here to challenge me while your forces attack mine?How amusing." The last word was spat out.Everyone watched in horror as the dark figure kept on growing.Courage did not seem to be impressed.He reached up one hand and grasped his sword hilt.There was a sound like silk tearing and a meter and a third of sharpened steel arrived in the room, reflecting light like lances of fire.

"Such a show off Khartan.You really should get a stage billing somewhere at a freak show or some….Grey, NOW!"

The wall exploded into a shower of gray stone, falling like summer rain.Out of the dust, like an orange and gold thunderbolt, a huge Wargreymon shooting forward at tremendous velocity slammed into the dark figure of Khartan, knocking him backward into the opposite wall.

"Terra Force!"

A massive explosion of red-gold energies demolished another part of the building as the Bakemon scurried for cover.Courage was moving almost too fast to see, he leaped up and chopped at their bonds in a blur, splintering metal like it was rotten wood, slicing the Digimons' cage open in a shining blur before anyone knew he was moving.

"Come on!" he yelled at them while another explosion came from the wall through which Khartan had exited the building.With a rush, he ran through a hole in the wall while the rest of the kids were grabbing their gear and following him.

Outside there was a huge gray concrete plateau, ending abruptly in a massive drop-off, leading to a black stone mountain surface what looked like miles below them.Around them there were a variety of different, oddly shaped towers, but the nearest were almost a hundred meters away, and they did not look very friendly.In the distance there was a plume of black smoke, filled with occasional explosions, evidence of the continuing battle.

"We're going to have to get down." Courage stated.

"How do we do that?" Davis demanded.

"I'll do it if we have to.But right now, I think we have bigger problems."

True to his words there was another massive explosion and the Wargreymon came catapulting out of the distance, crashing to the ground in front of them.He shook his head and then stood up, breathing heavily as he kept his eyes on the dark smoke that now was billowing toward them.For a moment the smoke just hung there, and then it resolved itself into Khartan.

"Was that it little Digimon?" he asked.

"Little?That things a lot bigger than we are." Yolei muttered.

"I think we're in trouble." Cody added.

Courage and Grey looked toward each other.They shrugged.

"Tell me you have another plan?"

"A plan?Us?"

"You have a point there." The Wargreymon shifted his armor uncomfortably.

"So, go by the default plan?" Courage was smiling for some reason.Ken briefly wondered if courage meant suicidal.

"Anytime you're finished talking." The Wargreymon growled and moved upright.

"Omega time Grey!" the man stuck out his arm, a peculiar, yet familiar orange light forming on the palm of his hand, almost as if he was holding….

"With pleasure!"

"Wargreymon…Omega Evolves to……"

_He's Digivolving!_ Ken thought, suddenly panicking._But a Mega can't Digivolve, can it?_

Where the Wargreymon had been standing, there was now a burst of red fire, rising, twisting and tumbling and glowing brighter and brighter, until suddenly it exploded into flames that shot outward like small meteors.In the middle there stood a new figure, about the same size and shape as Wargreymon, but wearing full golden armor, two massive cannon-like devices mounted on his shoulders, and double sword-blades protruding from his gauntlets.His eyes were burning with inner flame.

"THUNDERGREYMON!"

"Go get him big guy!" Courage lifted his hand in salute."And now, it's my turn."

"Crest of Courage…..Digivolve into Champion!"Courage spun around, moving faster and faster until his features were blurred, finally resolving into someone wearing dark orange and gold trimmed armor, and carrying a huge, unsheathed sword in each hand. 

"Who are…" Ken began.

"I've heard of Thundergreymon, but I thought he was just a legend." Gatomon sounded confused."He's supposed to be a nearly unstoppable fighting machine.His Thunder Force will do a lot more than make your ears ring.I don't know about the other guy."

"Thunder Force!" The cannon-like shoulder mounts glowed with red gold fire a second before pouring forth a startling blast of white energy, cutting like a tornado toward the darkness that shrouded Khartan.The figure screamed in agony as the power smashed into him, batting him around like a tennis ball as he crashed through nearby barricades.

"Mega Claw!" Two nasty looking sword blades took out a chunk of Khartan's darkness, causing him to flinch away and retreat.

The Champion of Courage raised one hand in a commanding gesture."Fires of Courage!" he roared, and a bolt of red-gold flame tore away from his hand and smashed into the darkness that was Khartan, trying to consume him.

"All right, Grey will take it from here.I'll get you out of here."

"How will you…ulp" Davis's sudden exclamation was cut off as he was grabbed, along with the others, in an invisible fist, and leaped off the building at a tremendous velocity.

After that, he was too busy trying to hold onto his lunch to remember anything.

"So that's what we have to do.Kick this guy out of his castle, take his Gate and wait for the others to help us?How do we do that?" Davis protested.

Courage shrugged."That's up to you.Neither of us like it, but I can't do something about this whole situation without using more power and causing more chaos than I would like to.You'll have to do this on your own."

TK nodded."I think I understand."

"Of course you do.Well, you and Kari.The others will have to figure it out themselves."He stood up. "Oh and before I go, here. You each get a present from us, since we think so highly of you.Well, all of you but Kari."

"Why not Kari?" Davis asked.

"You have yours Kari.Let anyone who needs it use the scanner, but the weapon you got this morning is yours and yours alone.It is more powerful than you could imagine, but only if used correctly.So be careful."

Courage began to fade, flickering in and out like a candle flame."Be true to the power inside guys.And remember, we believe in you…"

And then he was gone.

They moved to where he had been.A large chest was there.They opened the chest.

Ken blinked and removed a small bracelet with his name on it, really a piece of banded wire that he could tighten around his arm.He shrugged and put it on.

Yolei reached in an retrieved a pair of glasses, on which was written in bold writing _These don't break_.She put them on, grinned and left them there.

Davis managed to get himself a strange looking box.It was black and appeared to be made out of a strange metal.He opened it, but nothing was inside.He closed it again.After a moment he grumbled and put it inside his jacket.

Cody reached in and gasped.He pulled out an elegant sword, the same size and make as his kendo practice sticks, but this one was real, and looked deadly.It had its own sheath, which he placed it in, and put it over his back.

TK reached in and came out with a carved walking stick as tall as his head.For some reason it reminded him of Angemon's staff.He smiled, and then laughed openly at Davis' reaction as the chest suddenly disappeared.

Kari giggled and then sighed.

"Just like summer camp." TK muttered.

"All right." He grinned after a moment, noticing that Davis was still too occupied to do something."Let's get moving before trouble finds us."

Tai looked around from the top of the hill, one hand resting on Agumon's head."So now what?"

Izzy closed his new laptop and shrugged expressively."I really have no clue.My suggestion is that we find some other Digimon and ask them if they know anything, but other than that…" he patted his laptop for good measure."…you're on your own."

"That helps." Matt muttered, his hands stuck in his pockets as he looked around.

The hill they had climbed was tall, but they could still not see much except forest around them, and mountains to either side.Izzy had tried to figure out where they were, but he had little luck in his attempts.Finally, Tai turned to the others.

"Anybody got any clues?"

Mimi and Joe just looked on, Matt did not even bother to turn around, Sora smiled."Well, I suppose we could Digivolve and fly around and look for something."

"We might be seen." Izzy speculated."This is a mountain valley, but due to geological structural clues, I expect that it will turn into a gentle river plain if we head toward the western exit.If this is true, we might be able to find signs of civilization there, and it's only a day away."

"Seen, who would see us?!" Tai exploded, suddenly grabbing Izzy's collar."Kari is sitting out there alone somewhere, and you're worried about people taking pictures.What kind of a…" he trailed off and stopped. "I'm sorry Izzy."

Izzy patted him on the shoulder."Apology excepted.I was worried about those peaks up there.If you look closely, I think I can see what look like towers, and where there are towers, and towers imply guards.I don't know about you, but I don't want them to notice us."

Tai peered up closer."If only we could tell."

"Maybe we could climb up there and see." Matt's voice was sarcastic.

"Hey guys, we had this out once before.And this time I'm not going to climb the mountain during the night." Joe grinned at them, and, despite their worries, they grinned back.

"I have an idea." Mimi looked up cheerfully."We could just keep to the bushes and avoid any confrontation.Then, if we get close enough, we could wait until night, Digivolve and have a look before they noticed."

They all looked at each other in partial shock.Sora smiled."Well, at least one of us has a plan."

"Actually," Mimi muttered, "I think that something is easier than that, but I'm not sure what it is."

Suddenly, Izzy laughed."I've got it!"

"What?" Tai was getting cross.

"We use your goggles!"

"My goggles, what can we do with…oh yeah!" he put his goggles over his eyes and tried to figure out how to make them work.Suddenly, the image of the mountain top zoomed in, as if he was rushing toward it at tremendous speeds.

Izzy frowned suddenly and reopened his laptop, turning it back on.The screen immediately burst into life, displaying the complicated file storage system that Izzy had yet to figure out.He clicked on the Accessories folder, and then clicked on Goggles.There was a moment, and then the computer began to flash the message Not Connected.A diagnostic image of the goggles appeared, and a small switch on the right hand side was illuminated in bright red, flashing on and off.

"Tai, I think there is a switch on the right of your goggles, right by the eyepiece.Could you flip it?"

Tai reached up and felt around until he encountered the switch, and then flipped it to the on position.Immediately the computer screen faded and was replaced by a giant image of a foreboding peak with a large, squat building on top of it.Looking much like a black, short cylinder, the building looked over the valley, and had groups of little gray Digimon that Izzy could not make out patrolling the top.Experimentally he pushed on the images of the gray Digimon and the screen bleeped again, opening a small window in one corner that displayed the words Digimon Analyzer Activated.After a moment, it gave a readout, and Izzy's face was creased in a large smile.

"Prodigious!" he exclaimed.

"What is it Izzy?" Sora asked curiously.

"I can relay what Tai sees with his goggles to the computer, and analyze it.Come look for yourself." Izzy pointed and everybody else crowded along, but the image had changed.They were rewarded by a close up image of Izzy's face on the computer monitor.

Mimi giggled, Izzy looked affronted. 

"All right Tai, you can stop playing around now." Joe told the boy with the large brown hair, and Tai shrugged and went back to watching the mountaintop and the odd looking tower.Then he switched over and examined the other mountains that Izzy had mentioned, noticing that each one was topped with one of the strange towers, as if a group of bats had decided to land and fold up on a variety of mountain peaks.

Izzy placed one hand under his chin pensively as he stared at the images and then told Tai, "You can stop if you want."Tai turned off his goggles and came back over to look over Izzy's shoulder.

Izzy called up a map of the valley and quickly filled in the mountain peaks that had the towers with a red mark, and sat back.Like a line of blood drops, the red dots proceeded straight up both sides of the valley, watching over the place like vultures waiting for their prey.

"They've got the whole valley under surveillance.And I don't think that they're friendly." Izzy commented.

"This is the Digiworld, nothing is friendly." Joe muttered, and then looked down, "Present company excepted of course."

"That's okay." Gomamon replied, scratching at Joe's leg.

"I've heard about some sort of Empire settling in off to the East, and the North, but I really know nothing." Tentomon sounded as puzzled as Izzy."I don't know why they would have such towers all over the place, but they're not supposed to be nice people.I think it might be best to avoid them altogether."

"Yes, that would be faster." Gabumon remarked."We want to find this Gate, not get into fights all over the Digiworld, and the fastest way to do that is to avoid attention."

"So we walk all over looking for a gate?" Matt asked.

"No, we wander for a bit looking for clues.Remember us looking for the crests? I think it will be just like that." Biyomon sounded enthusiastic.

"Yeah, and we did find the crests pretty fast, didn't we." Sora chimed in.

"All right, all right." Tai muttered."We'll go west, out of sight."

"Oh, my feet hurt." Mimi complained.When everyone turned around to look at her, she grinned at them."Just joking, for old times sake.I've been jogging in the evening as exercise.I'll be fine."

"That's good for you to say, but now MY feet hurt." Joe muttered."Some of us never had the time to exercise."

"And I'm hungry." Sora chimed in.

"So are we!" the Digimon added.

"You're always hungry." Tai complained.Then he sighed."But I guess we should stop for a rest or something.Just make it short guys."

"How about long?" Izzy asked."It's getting dark now, and we all know what happens if you wander around in the Darkness in the Digital World.Last time we did that, we woke up in really big trouble."

"No, we can't stop this early!" Tai was yelling.

"We need to find TK!" Matt yelled along with him.

Sora stood up suddenly."Haven't you two gotten over that yet?"Everyone stared at her."I mean, look at you.You're worried about your siblings aren't you.Well, you have that right, but remember, they're older now.They can take care of themselves, and they don't necessarily need your help.And think about this, if you're both dead, how will you help them?We need clear thinking now, not reckless risk taking."

Agumon nodded too."Yeah Tai, I know Gatomon, she'll keep Kari safe, and so will the others."

Gabumon grabbed Matt with one claw."And Patamon always keeps TK safe Matt, so you don't need to worry."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess." Tai did not sound convinced.

"Remember Tai, they are older.You too Matt." Sora touched both of their shoulders.

They nodded once, without really paying attention, and then Tai hammered his fist into a nearby tree."I know you're right, it just feels like I should be doing something…"

"If you know when to do something, that's the true mark of a leader.Even if it feels like you should be doing more, you should know your limits." Izzy added.

"I guess I'm not much of a leader then."

"That's not true." Matt spoke up suddenly."You're the best Tai." He suddenly looked embarrassed.

"If Matt agrees it must be true." Mimi smiled at both of them."Let's find some place to rest up for the night."

"Okay." Everyone laughed.

TK sighed as he looked around."Just like old times."

They were sitting in a bowl-like valley, surrounded by trees on the top, with a small, blue lake in the middle.There was a small grove of trees surrounding a flat shelf of earth right next to it, and a series of bushes that spread around the grove.Above them, the sky was darkening, and he judged that it would be night very soon.

"So what I say we do…" Davis started, "is we get ready to do some camping!"

Everyone else just looked skeptical.

"How can we do this?" Yolei asked."I've never been camping before?"

"We do it all the time." Hawkmon reminded her."I just find a nice tree and take a nap in it."

"I'm not a bird."

"Don't look at me." Armadillomon waved a paw apologetically."Whenever this happens to me, I just dig a hole and sleep in it."

Cody sighed. "I guess that wouldn't be very practical for me, would it?"

"Have you been camping much Davis?Because I sure haven't." Ken sounded despondent.

"Once or twice.But don't worry, I'm a pro at this.I'll have us set up in no time." Davis puffed up his chest.

"Uh, can I make a suggestion?" Kari spoke up.

"Of course Kari." Davis puffed up even further.Kari had to struggle to keep a straight face.Veemon snickered.

"I was going to say, since TK has been in this situation before, living off the land and surviving in the Digital World, that maybe he should be in charge of this." Davis looked hurt and Kari carried on."Oh, you would still be leader, but TK has more experience at this than anyone here.Being able to lead us in a fight doesn't mean anything here."

"Oh." Davis abruptly deflated.He pondered with himself for a moment."I guess."

He walked off to get a drink.Ken and Yolei just stared at each other.After a moment, Ken asked, nervously."Did Davis just agree to a reasonable suggestion?"

"I don't know, my brain shut down about then."

Cody looked over at them."Come on you guys.It's happened before…like when,…well, when….okay, maybe that time … I'm sure it's happened before."

Yolei shrugged.

"Thanks Kari." TK sounded grumpy."Now I'm going to be responsible if we starve, right?"

Kari reached over and gripped his shoulder warmly."I know you can handle this TK.Trust me."

TK brightened, and gave her hand a quick squeeze."Thanks."

"Anytime."

"All right then, let's get to work.The most important thing to remember is that a world like this is filled with trouble, so if you're here, you've got to be careful.The second thing is that, despite the fact that they sometimes act goofy and irresponsible, your Digimon are all better at this than you are." Everyone nodded at TK's statement, even Davis, who had returned from his drink.

"All right.Anybody here know how to fish?"

Cody raised his hand."My grandfather taught me."

TK nodded."All right.Cody, you and I are going fishing in that lake.Kari, you remember how to set up a campsite and how to collect firewood, Yolei can help you.I'll look for some too.Davis and Ken, you guys can take your Digimon and look for fruit or vegetables.They should know all the good ones.Everybody better stay together."Everybody nodded, and started moving away.

Cody sat down at the edge of the river, letting his homemade fishing line, made out of a threadlike vine they had found earlier, trail in the water, concentrating on trying to search for fish.He had already caught one, but TK was having less luck."Have you gone fishing much TK?"

"No, that was Joe's job." TK tried angling his line a little.

"Joe's job?You mean Joe was a fisherman or something?" Cody was confused about why Joe would spend time fishing.

"Yeah.He had the only water Digimon in the group, so he got to go fishing all the time when we needed to catch something.Gomamon is really good at catching fish, provided you can get him to give them to you before he eats them.And given that they aren't his special fish."  
"You mean the first time you were in the Digital World." Cody surmised.

"Yeah, we learned a lot of things we've never had to do again.Like this.If you think catching fish is bad, wait until you start gutting them.And we don't even have a knife."

Cody shrugged."I have an eating knife in my backpack." He paused."Can you answer a question of mine?"

"Sure." TK looked over. Cody looked and sounded especially serious now.

"How do you get used to the empty feeling inside?I mean, I've felt lonely before, and sometimes when I'm in the Digital World I'll feel especially lonely and all, but I always knew that at the end of the day I would go home.Even the fear I got when we were fighting never overcame my knowledge that we would soon be back home.But now, I feel like I've been torn away from home."

TK sat for a moment, and then spoke."When we first came to the Digital World, it was horrible.We had no idea where we were, no idea what we were doing, and we were just kids trying to survive.Every day we woke up missing our parents, every day, we would wonder how our families were doing, we would dream of waking up in our beds in the morning, with our parents getting us out of bed so we could go to school.I remember that I used to dream that it was before the time when my parents broke up, and that any moment now Matt was going to wake me up so we could go to the front room, eat breakfast, and play video games.I know all the others had problems, even Tai when it came down to the facts that we were kids, stuck with people we didn't know very well, trying to survive together.

"After a while, we all realized something.Even though we can never replace our family, our friends acted like one.We all took care of each other, looked after each other and tried our best to be there when anyone else needed us.After all, when it's just you and your friends, it's almost the same as being with family.I know in school you would never cry on a friends shoulder, but we do so here all the time, because nobody else is watching us.We're a team here, a real team, we know each other and trust each other, and if someone feels bad, it's our job to cheer them up.That's how it works here."

Cody thought about that for a moment."So that's why you guys are so close."

TK nodded."Yeah.I can still remember the list of everything Joe is allergic too, and Tentomon's favorite kind of berries, and that Izzy tends to murmur when he sleeps on his side too long.I remember that every once in a while Mimi will sleep on her leg and cut off circulation, so that when she wakes up, she jumps around, and that Tai is afraid of swarms of bees.We all know each other well, and when you need someone, everyone here will be here for you."

"I guess that helps.I mean, it doesn't replace my family, but knowing that you guys are here, well…it means a lot to me."

"And it should Cody.Look's like you've got a bite."

"So why do we have to gather the firewood and set up the camp?" Yolei asked, groaning.

"Easy, they're the easiest tasks we have so TK put them together.And I think he was thinking of something else.He and I both have to stay close to camp, and I can't fish." Kari was absentmindedly sweeping rocks away from the area where they would bed down for the night.

"Huh? Why do you guys have to stick close?"

"If you remember, we are the only two that have Digimon that can't Digivolve.That makes us too vulnerable if we go out there.We have to stay close to camp.He can fish, and I can't, so he went with Cody.He stuck Davis and Ken together, because Ken is the only one besides me who can actually reign Davis in when he starts to lose his cool, so we're here."

"Wow.I never thought leadership was that complicated." Yolei whistled.

"It's not usually.TK is just exceptionally good at it.His only problem is that he tends to break down after too long under stress." Kari finished and started looking around for small twigs to start the fire.

"It's too bad that the others aren't here.We could really use their help." Gatomon had already collecting a small group of twigs and was bringing them back.Her fur was a little ruffled.

"Gatomon, where's Hawkmon?" Yolei asked.

There was a sudden yell from outside their field of vision."Beak Buzzsaw!"

"Oh, he's chopping up trees.He thought we could use bigger logs."

Kari giggled."Why don't we go help him carry them."

Yolei sighed and went after her disappearing partner.

TK stuck the last fish on a stick, just like Matt had done all those years ago, and turned to the others.

"Okay guys, these will take a while to cook, so why don't we see what we have in our backpacks."

Everyone shrugged and dumped out their gear on the ground.TK and Kari sorted through it quickly.

"A whole bunch of books that we'll never need. Some paper, some pens, and a few other things from school that are completely useless.A pair of music CDs, a cell phone, a set of calculators, a few assorted computer disks.All of which we should probably bury here and leave behind so we don't have to carry them." TK sighed and looked at his pile.

"On the other hand," Kari's voice was much brighter."we each have a set of gym clothes that we can wear if we need to, some type of jacket and a bottle of water that we can refill.Cody has a complete set of eating utensils, including a very usable knife that we can use to carve tools we need.Yolei brought a flashlight in her pen, and a compass she carried around in her backpack.Ken has a laser pointer, which might be useful someday, a first aid kit, and some healthy snacks.Davis has his soccer uniform, his high quality wristwatch, and a huge collection of chocolate."

"Well, you've seen Demi-V eat, haven't you?" Davis looked up defensively.

"Are you saying I'm a pig?" Veemon demanded, staring Davis down.

"No, I'm just saying you eat like one."

"So what do you guys have?" Ken asked, looking at TK and Kari, who suddenly flushed and looked embarrassed.

"Well?" Cody asked.

TK coughed uncomfortably, then turned around, and yelled out."Hey, the fish is ready!"

Everyone rushed over and grabbed their fish off from around the fire and started to dig in.There were a few moments when conversation was limited to mumbling about how good the fish was.After a minute or so, they were down to the berries and fruits that Davis and Ken had brought back, and everyone remembered the conversation.

"So, what do you guys have?It's okay if you have nothing." Ken chimed in.

"Between us, TK and I have two first aid kits, a small pillow, a flashlight, two multi-tools, a flashlight, ten meters of rope, and a few other pieces."

Everyone stared.After a moment, Ken spoke up."So that's why you left your textbooks at school.Why were you carrying that much?"

"We've had warnings, premonitions, that something was going to happen." TK looked uncomfortable."We came prepared, because we remember what happened last time."

"So, we can make us all blankets out of dried grass and leaves, if you don't mind sleeping on the ground.And then we can give you all something to help you if you get hurt, but other than that, we can't do much."

"That's fine.More than fine.I'm glad you came prepared." Yolei sat for a moment.

"Well, as soon as we're done here, we should probably get ready to sleep.We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

TK told them some of the stories of his first handful of days on File Island, letting the others laugh as they discovered how to survive in the wild, before they all went off to bed, leaving Cody alone on watch.

"Mind if I join you?" Ken asked quietly, walking up behind TK.TK turned and smiled at him.

"Your watch isn't for an hour or two you know."

"Yeah, I know.But I wanted to talk to you."

"What about?" Patamon, still perched on TK's head looked at them both sleepily.

"I wanted you to know that I think that you're doing the right thing TK.I'm not quite as socially inept as I claim to be.I know that you're trying to set yourself up so that if Davis needs help leading, you'll be able to provide it.I think that's a great idea, because sometimes he gets out of his depth.And I know that you don't want the job of being backup leader, but someone has to do that."

"I wish I had thought of it, unfortunately someone else did."

"Kari?"

"Yeah, I thinks she wants me to be a leader of sorts."

"Only because she trusts you."

"That's part of the problem."

Ken blinked."So, you finally admitted that you have a problem.I was wondering about that."

"What do you mean?"

"Girl trouble TK?"

TK looked out for a moment.Was the fluttering feeling deep in his stomach when he was around Kari a symbol of deeper feelings?Or was it merely teenage anxiety? He shrugged helplessly.

"I see." Ken's voice was thoughtful."I wish genius intellect could help you with this, but I'm afraid it can't.I suppose it's only fair to confess that I'm having problems of my own with Yolei.Half the time I want to sit there and watch her, and the other half I want to hide under a table from her and hope she doesn't see me."

"Yeah, Kari gives me the same problem.I would rather have her as a friend than lose that to a foolish crush of mine.At the same time, I'm becoming increasingly unnerved around her.And then I have Davis to worry about."

Ken chuckled."I guess we're not ladies men.We can let Wormmon sleep for a while, and you too Patamon.If TK tells me about his problems, I'll tell him about mine, huh?"

TK smiled, and they talked long into Ken's shift.

Kari came out for the last shift and saw Yolei still sitting there.She felt strangely refreshed, as if she had slept for a week.

"So how's it going?" she asked Yolei.

"Boring, tiring.I'm glad it's almost your turn now."

Kari smiled, and then frowned."Yolei, I have a question that you might be able to answer."

"Sure.Anything for you."

"How do you tell if a guy likes you?"

Yolei whistled."You don't ask the easy ones, do you?"

"Well?"

"I guess it's hard to tell.Worried about TK, are you?"

"What do you mean, why would I be worried about TK…" Kari trailed off as she saw the smirk on Yolei's face."Is it that obvious?"

"To me it is.You practically faint every time he starts to compliment you. And I think he does like you, seeing how he keeps staring at you."

"But you don't know."

"No I don't.If I had a way of knowing, I'd know if Ken…oops."

Now it was Kari's turn to smirk.

"I guess we both have problems.Oh well, I'll think about it more tomorrow.G'night Kari."

"Good night.Or rather, good morning."

Kari woke Gatomon up and sat, alone with her thoughts, until morning.

"All right, so now what?" Davis hopped from one foot to the other with impatience.

"We take a look around." Ken suggested."Whatever Khartan is, he's too strong for us to just smash up.I suggest that we see if we can find some back way into his fortress.Or even some friends."

"I agree with Ken.We can sneak around and no one will be the wiser." Kari was sitting on the ground, stroking Gatomon.

"Well, Kari, you should stay here, unless Gatomon thinks she can Digivolve.The rest of us can go look around." Cody stood up and checked his new sword.

"She shouldn't stay alone.Yolei, you should probably stay with her." TK suggested.

"Why me?Why not you, Patamon can't Digivolve either, can he?" Yolei responded, looking over at him.

"I was just thinking that it might make sense to have the two rookie fliers in each different group.Besides I run faster than the rest of you do.It's just something I get to do." TK grinned and Davis grumbled.

"All right then, the guys will go out looking, and the girls will stay behind.How about that?" Davis almost tripped over Veemon, but stopped himself.

"Yeah!" Veemon was sure happy.

"If you're sure." Kari was reluctant, but she seemed to sit still.

"Let's get going." Davis was halfway gone already, TK and Cody trailing along behind him.

"Can I borrow the Scanner Kari?" Ken looked down at her.

"Of course."

As the guys went off, Yolei turned to Kari and muttered."I still don't have an answer to that question you asked."

"That's okay, it'll give us something to think about."

"I don't like the way that looks at all." Patamon sat on top of TK's head, camouflaged in the shadows of the leaves around him.The two of them were sitting on top of a tall branch in a shaded elm tree at the edge of a small wood, watching the ground in front of them.

"I don't either."

"Hey, you guys up there see anything?" Davis hissed loudly.TK rolled his eyes, Davis somehow managed to whisper loudly, something nobody else could do.Not that it really mattered.

"Yeah, we see four Digimon over there, big ones.They look like Tyrannomon.I don't like the way they look either."

"What do you mean?" That was Cody.

"I think they're getting ready to attack something.We can see them well, but they aren't watching us, they're trying to look in the other direction.They're hidden from that small valley over there, and it seems like they're waiting for something, and that's probably no good." TK clambered down the tree to rejoin the others hidden in the bushes.It was probably only their suspicious nature that kept them there, but it served them well.

"Do you think they're evil Digimon?" Veemon was curious.

"Maybe they're just enjoying the shade." Wormmon suggested.

"Nah, they're on the wrong side of the rocks." Patamon replied, shifting around on TK's head.

"Then maybe they're enjoying the sun." Wormmon suggested.

Ken frowned and shrugged, tweaking a strand of his long, black hair."I'm not really sure.The scanner registers something over there in that valley, but the Tyrannomon are the only things that I can actually make out.We all know about their Fire Blast attack and how dangerous they are, but I don't really know what they're doing here."

"Why don't we go find out?" Armadillomon suggested.

"I'm with him." Veemon sounded all fired up.

"All right, we can circle around behind them, and take a peek into the valley." Davis jumped up and started walking off to one side.

"Uh, Davis…"

"What is it Veemon?"

"You're going the wrong way."

Davis poked his head up, and immediately dropped back down beneath the cover of a row of green bushes, almost clobbering himself on TK's staff."It's a village."

"What kind of village?" Ken asked.

"A small one."

"I think we wanted some more detail Davis." Cody sounded irked.

"No, I'm serious.You're taller than those houses Cody, they're really small."

"A Digimon village then." TK concluded."I remember the Yokomon village on File Island was just like that."

"So, why are there Tyrannomon around the village?"

"Beats me." Ken shrugged."Wormmon, why don't you crawl down a little closer to see what's going on."

"Why Wormmon?" Davis asked.

"Because we're surrounded by small green bushes.And Wormmon is green, so they match.He'll be harder to spot than a blue and white lizard." Ken grinned and rubbed Veemon's head.

"Makes sense to me." Cody replied.

They watched Wormmon worm Sorry, I had to say it his way through the bush and disappear for a few minutes.Ken stared at the computer screen and TK went over to join him.Cody checked that his sword was sharpened.Davis stared at the sky.The other Digimon watched a beetle with fascination.

After a bit the bushes rustled again and Wormmon was standing there once more."I think it's a mixed village.I saw Crabmon in their pond, Tapirmon, Floramon and Mushroomon in the village itself, but there's something going on.They appear to be arguing with a Gazimon in the middle of the town.We can creep closer and listen, but I wanted to come back right away."

Davis was creeping through the grass before anyone could say another word.TK and Ken looked at each other, shrugged, looked at Cody, who shrugged, and then, with their Digimon in tow, they started crawling down the hillside above the village.Wormmon had been right, the entire hillside looked like it was covered in short shrubs, but they were actually quite tall, and the eight quickly burrowed their way through the greenery until they came to the edge of a large pond at the edge of the village, glistening a bright blue.A voice floated to them from the center of the village.

"It doesn't matter what Machinedramon says.We simply cannot and will not pay more taxes.Our farms aren't that rich, we can't send more troops, and we can't afford more taxes.We can't take it any more."

There was a murmur of angry voices.Ken and TK looked at Davis, but he was too busy trying to listen.

"Lord Machinedramon knows that Emperor Khartan needs more from you lazy slugs.If you want to try and get out of it, we'll simply haul you off to the slave mines, and you can work for him there.It's your choice."

"We don't have to.We'll take care of you here, and then get out of here before your army shows up."

The second voice laughed."You fools, don't you think we anticipated this.So you want to fight, eh?It's going to be off to the slave camps with you!Tyrannomon, attack!"

There was a sudden roar and then, on the ridges of the valley above them, the four Tyrannomon appeared, roaring in anger, claws outstretched and eyes blood red.Fire blazed in their eyes, and in the low rumbling in their throats.

"They're gonna destroy everything, we gotta stop them!" Davis yelled.

"Normally I prefer to avoid violence, but I'm with you this time." Cody stepped up, determination burning in his eyes.

"Let's go get them." Veemon yelled.

Davis and Cody streaked off, with Ken and TK right behind.

"We're outnumbered you know." Ken gasped as he ran after the accelerating Davis.

"I know.But I also know a few tricks.Stick close and follow my lead." TK suddenly veered off to the side. Patamon almost fell off his hat, and Ken raced after him, carrying Wormmon in one arm.

"Let's do it!" Davis yelled as he reached the village center, where the Tyrannomon were preparing to attack, with Veemon, Cody and Armadillomon right on his heels.

"Veemon….Digivolve to….ExVeemon!"

"Armadillomon….Digivolve to …..Ankylomon!"

"My turn Ken?"

"Hero time, old friend."

"Wormmon…Digivolve to ….Stingmon!"

"Patamon…Digivolve to….nope, still Patamon!"

"Could be worse!" TK yelled."You could be Hogmon."

"I am not a pig TK!" Patamon yelled back, rising into the air. 

ExVeemon sprung into the air rising above one of the Tyrannomon.The red dinosaur looked up suddenly, wrath spiraling in its eyes, and then the titanic mouth with all it's teeth opened up and there was a sudden gurgling sound."Fire Blast!"

As the fireball sped upwards, ExVeemon crossed his arms over his chest, absorbing light.Before the bolt of fiery rage could hit him he spread his arms again.

"Vee Laser!"

The two attacks met in the middle of the air and exploded, leaving the combatants eyeing each other warily.

"Tail Hammer!" One of the Tyrannomon collapsed, being hit by a rolling Ankylomon in the stomach, but in his fall, he tripped up Ankylomon, and they went down into a huge heap.

"So what do we do?" Ken asked as the other two Digimon turned toward them.

"Take care of them!" TK yelled.

"How do I…"

"Hey you buckets of lard, you ever hear about exercise?How about losing weight?" TK howled at the Tyrannomon, who both immediately turned to face him.Patamon accompanied this with a series of Boom Bubbles that hammered into them, drawing their attention to the human and his small Digimon.Two identical balls of flame reached out and stabbed at him, much to the horror of a watching Ken.

But TK was not there any more.Drawing upon a level of skill he never used in basketball, and every trick and resource so many years of being Digidestined had left him with he was already up, using his staff as a pole vault, landing hard on the roof of a nearby hut, and then catapulting off with Patamon now in his arms.

"Stingmon, while they're distracted, you've got to take them down!" Ken snapped, ignoring the pang as he gave an order that would have made the Digimon Emperor proud.

"Right, I know how." Stingmon shot off into the sky, leaving Ken alone for the moment.

TK sweated bullets, using every trick he knew, some of Davis' soccer moves, a few of Ken's judo tricks and even a handful of Kari's dance steps to stay ahead of the raging firebolts.He ducked, dived and turned, racing through the small village in circles while the two furious Digimon fired at him.He knew that every shot drew upon their energies, weakening them, but they were weakening him a lot more, and sooner or later, one of them would get lucky.

There was an explosion closer than any of the others, knocking TK sprawling, and, as he scrambled back to his feet, he realized he was out of options.

Grabbing Patamon extra hard he arced up, trajectory nearly perfect, and crashed into the water, hoping silently that it would be deep enough for what he planned.Fortunately he did not break his neck on a hard surface, and he swam down several layers, allowing his pursuers to waste firepower boiling off the top layer of the water, while he dived deeper.The now cloudy water made him an indistinct target, but it was not stopping the Tyrannomon from shooting at him.As he dodged the deadly, hissing pockets of steam their fireballs became underwater, he realized distantly that he would have a pretty bad time of it when he came up for air….

Ken watched in horror as TK failed to reappear on the surface.He was so focused looking for the missing Digidestined that he missed the sight of an accelerating blur streaking over the landscape like a missile, going to fast that the ground was tearing itself up in his wake.There was a moment before the thunder hit when everyone jerked around to observe the path of the speeding green projectile, and then a familiar voice screamed out:

"Spiking Strike!"

A brilliantly glowing sword emerged from both of Stingmon's outstretched arms.Normally that would not have finished the other two Tyrannomon, but combined with his massive speed, and the energy they had expended upon TK, it was too much.The glowing blades streaked through both of the hostile Digimon, rendering them into the scatter of deleted data as Stingmon made a horrible screeching noise in his attempt to stop. 

"Quick!" Ken pointed frantically."TK's in there, you've got to find him!"

There was a sudden splash and TK reappeared, coughing frantically in the shallows, Patamon coughing equally hard under one arm.He struggled, gasping to the shore, where he was met by a concerned Ken.

"Don't worry…cough…I'll be all right…gasp….help…gasp…others." TK succumbed to a fit of coughing.

"Stingmon!" Ken called, but the insectoid Digimon was already lifting off, accelerating toward the battle on the other side of the village.

ExVeemon and the Tyrannomon he was facing were still stationary, although both of them were covered with ashes.Ankylomon was having some trouble getting back on his feet, and was depending on his hard shell to keep the dinosaur Digimon's razor sharp claws off him.

Stingmon raised one huge hand and smashed down on the Tyrannomon's head, knocking it sidewise and then raised his other hand, letting the blade slide free of its sheath.

"Spiking Strike!"

"Tail Hammer!"

Both attacks hit home at the same moment, and the Tyrannomon howled as he was deleted.Cody gasped, but remained resolute, even though a quivering in his lip almost gave him away.

"Vee Laser!"

"Tail Hammer!"

"Striking Spike!"

The last Tyrannomon exploded into deleted data.TK smiled and then fainted.

"So, Khartan has rulership of the entire world!" Davis yelled."That's just great."

The Tapirmon in charge nodded.The rest of his people were packing up to go hide deeper in the mountains."There are still groups that fight against them, but I don't know where many of them are.If you need to get into his gate, you're going to need more help, maybe somebody who worked in there once.Not so long ago it was a fortress of the last king, SaberLeomon, but now it is Khartan's evil fortress.If you can find one of the king's old retainers, they might be able to help you.If you stay out here in the mountains and forests, he'll be hard pressed to stop and find you."

"Do you know anything about a place called Citadel?" TK asked, still recovering.

"Citadel, yes, I have heard of them.They are the fortress of all that is good in the worlds.It is their forces that drive back the darkness.That makes them not very popular with Khartan, and they have no influence here, although they still may have much power."

TK nodded.

"So, what should we do?"

"If I were you, I would try and move around the mountains until you find somewhere that you can use as a base until you find a way to that gate.There are said to be items of power out there somewhere that you can use.Perhaps one of them can save you.We must leave now, you can come along with us."

"No, we better stick together and get back to hiding." Davis nodded to where the girls were waiting.

"Come on guys, let's get going back." Ken gestured, and the four Digidestined and their exhausted Digimon were heading back.

Okay, so you finally got a fight.Or something.Just for a note, neither Omega Evolution nor the Guardian/Avatar techniques will come up very often in the rest of the story.It will be hard switching between the two groups, and I'll have my hands full with that.


	3. Episode III

Ep3

> Disclaimer: I still don't own Digimon or any other licenced products that appear in this story. I do not intend to make any profit off this work of fiction. Go ahead, sue me, but it won't do anything.   
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. And sorry that it is so long. I hate translating things to HTML. 
> 
> Episode III:   
Moving On 
> 
> Ken's Voiceover: All right, so we ended up in this really weird evil world after being kidnapped from the real world. We managed to survive the attack of this Emperor Khartan guy because some weird person showed up and saved us. He came with a Wargreymon that can digivolve to the next level! Afterwards, we had to survive on our own. The guys got tangled up saving a village, and TK risked his life to beat up the bad guys. I hope this doesn't get any worse. 
> 
> "What happened to you guys?!" Kari sounded especially frantic.   
"TK took a swim." Veemon stated, jumping up on a log and starting to munch on an odd shaped vegetable lying there.   
"I'm all right." TK nodded. "Really."   
"How did you manage to do this to yourself TK?" Kari took in the general state of his clothes, which were all still wet, his pale demeanor, his shaking shoulders, and everything else.   
"I got careless."   
"He held off two Tyrannomon all by himself." Ken stated flatly. "He got them angry and distracted and held their attention so that Stingmon and I could finish them. If you think wet is bad, he was almost deep-fat fried."   
"You did what?" Kari gasped, grabbing his shoulder.   
"Whoa." Was all Yolei could say. "I thought Angemon couldn't Digivolve."   
"He can't." Ken's voice was level, but you could hear something in there shaking. "You have no idea how much he scared me when he tried to take them on on foot."   
"I helped." Patamon sat up.   
Gatomon rolled her eyes. "I bet you did."   
"If you guys are done yelling at me." TK was still shivering a little. "I think I'm going to go lie down. Wake me up for dinner."   
"Sure thing TZ!"   
"Davis!"   
TK smiled and closed his eyes, and let exhaustion wash over him. 
> 
> Earlier:   
"Man, I haven't felt this bad since TK snuck a rock under my bed." Matt stood up and tried to strech a kink out of his back.   
"Why did he do that?" Sora had already yawned and crawled out of the pile of dried grass and leaves that had formed a cozy comforter for the night, along with Biyomon.   
"Probably because I dumped a glass of water over him while he was sleeping to make him think he had wet his bed. But I only did that because he stole my guitar strings."   
"Was that before or after you glued his hat to your art project?" Joe wanted to know from where he was already feeding the fire that had nursed the night guard through the darkness. He looked a bit dishevled, but otherwise just like the same Joe that had gotten them through so many scrapes.   
"That was an honest mistake."   
"Sheesh. You guys don't even live in the same house, and you have problems." Sora shook her head.   
"So, are we all ready for breakfast?" Matt asked, moving toward the fire, where some thoughtful person had stacked last night's leftover meal of fruit and vegetables.   
"I certainly am!" Biyomon announced.   
"Me too!" Gomamon poked his head up at the mention of food.   
"So where is everyone?" Palmon wanted to know.   
"Well, Mimi's still sleeping, and so is Tai. I thought we would let them sleep while we got breakfast ready. After all there's no reason to get them up. And Izzy and Tentomon are over there, working." Matt pointed to where two figures could be seen, hunched over the new laptop, carefully and rapidly hitting buttons.   
"Leave it to Izzy to get worked up this early in the morning. Any idea on what they're working on?" Sora asked, yawning.   
"Some way to find a Gate." Joe shrugged. "He explained some of it to me, but Biology and Medicine are my things, not Computer Science."   
"Can we just get breakfast started?" Biyomon asked, ruffling her pink feathers. "Please?"   
"Sure thing." Matt leaned down and picked up the piece of scrap metal he had found yesterday that made a nice frying pan. Quickly he mashed up some more different roots and poured them in. Joe's gift had shown them to be not only harmless, but edible, and offered a few cooking tips, including how to make a dough-like porridge out of them. Yesterday Matt, who got to be the cook, since he was the only one who actually knew anything about it, had created a pancake like object out of it. Today, he would try the same thing.   
"How are you doing?" Sora leaned over Izzy and watched him busily inputing computer commands into the screen.   
"Not bad. I think I can use the electromagnetic scanners to zoom in and determine which part of the photonic spectrum is being defracted by the interdimensional phenomenon of an active portal. Then, using a triangulation matrix, and adjusting for the pertubation…"   
"Izzy, you're doing it again." Sora tapped him on top of the head.   
Izzy blushed suddenly and groaned. "Sorry Sora."   
She smiled sisterly at him as Joe wandered over to watch them. "'S Okay. So, what are you doing?"   
"Well, you should know that a portal between worlds warps space. Just like all those portals we've seen before, where it looked sort of like everything was being sucked into it. Well, those portals warp space, which is why they look so weird when you get close to them. The best way to detect warped space is through light. Normally, light flows in straight lines and all, so that when it reaches you it should come in a predictable pattern. Well, a portal warps that pattern, and I'm looking for visual inconsistencies. It will take a while to work the bugs out of the system."   
"Wow Izzy, I think I understood that." Joe stood still in shock for a moment.   
Sora nodded. "You're getting better all the time. But we do have something that you could use your genius on?"   
"What might that be?"   
"Waking up Tai."   
Izzy shrugged, packed up his laptop for a moment and joined them watching Tai snore. He was out like a light. Even Mimi was yawning her way awake.   
"I wonder why he's so tired?" Joe asked.   
"Because he didn't sleep much last night." Matt's voice was quiet and deadly serious.   
"He didn't?"   
"No, when I took my shift, he was up staring at the stars. Every once in a while, I heard him sniffle. I think he's worried about Kari."   
"He was doing that when I was out too. I don't know if he slept at all." Sora whistled. "He must be really worried."   
"Yeah. I'm worried too, but I saw TK less. I was forced to remember that he'd grown up while he was away from me. Tai never had to think of Kari as grown up and mature. He's paying the price for that now."   
"I guess so, anything we can do?" Sora and Matt were ignoring everyone else and staring at each other.   
"I don't know Sora. I really don't. And I don't know if I can stand it for very long."   
"Well, we can worry about that later." Izzy looked over. "Fortunately, I have a plan to wake up Tai with a very high probability of success." He leaned over Tai and whispered in his ear. "Tai, breakfast."   
"Huh? What? Food?"   
Everyone laughed. "Good morning Tai."   
"I see he hasn't changed." Gabumon snickered to Matt.   
"Did you think he would?" Matt asked back.   
"Seeing how Agumon never changes, I guess not."   
After breakfast the group got up again and started discussing where to go, with the exception of Izzy, who was staring at his computer. After a moment of typing, he stood up.   
"I think I have an answer." He stated boldly.   
"What?" Tai sounded grumpy.   
"There is a disturbance of some kind that could be a gate over in that direction. Somewhere." He pointed to the west.   
"That's it, that's all you know? I can't believe that…sorry Izzy."   
"S'Okay Tai, I know what you're thinking. Anyway, I was taking some notes on those towers that we noticed the other day. There's another line over there. And one over there, and they all lead toward the same point. My theory is that the person who controls them has a palace in that direction, and is probably either right over the gate, or knows where the gate is. Maybe we can find out from him."   
Tai shook his head. "You're still my favorite genius Izzy."   
"Isn't he though." Matt grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.   
"So if we go that way, pretty soon we'll be back with our frineds." Mimi exclaimed extatically.   
"That's great!" Sora exclaimed.   
"I think we're ready to go get them." Joe exclaimed.   
Behind them the Digimon made a sudden circle.   
"Is Joe being positive?"   
"Did he just sound enthusiastic?"   
"Maybe a black gear got him or something."   
"Or he's been drinking too much caffeine."   
"Nah, Joe's always had it in him, even if he didn't show it."   
"I guess he has changed, though you haven't."   
"Hey!"   
"C'mon guys!" Tai yelled, starting to clean up the camp. "Let's get going." 
> 
> A few hours later, they were slightly less cheerful.   
"I feel like I've been walking all day." Agumon complained. "I'm getting tired."   
"You have been walking all day." Tentomon pointed out. Izzy just grinned.   
"At least nobody's seen us." Tai remarked. He was looking at everything with his goggles, depending on their magnification to keep anything from sneaking up on him. That and Izzy's ever increasing skill with his new laptop. Sora and Matt walked beside Tai and Joe walked beside Izzy, keeping them from running into things while they kept a look out.   
"According to what we saw on that last hill, there should be a lake on the other side of this ridge. We can rest there, maybe set up camp for the night, and get an early start tomorrow." Sora suggested brightly.   
"Wow! I love a day at the beach!" Mimi near-shrieked.   
"You don't have to be so loud Mimi." Palmon remonstrated her.   
"I think we could use a time-out." Joe suggested. "Let's get up that hill."   
Matt just grinned and hit Tai on the back, almost knocking him over. Gabumon chuckled.   
"Well, at least it isn't that tall. You were right, I can see that lake." Tai gazed ahead with his goggles. "Wait, what's that? Everyone down."   
Everybody, Digimon and human dropped to the ground for a moment, but nothing happened. After a few seconds Sora and Matt crawled to the front. Izzy followed them leaving Joe and Mimi and the Digimon behind. They all peered over the edge, but they could see nothing but a cluster of shapes. Izzy quickly connected his laptop to Tai's goggles and hit the enter button, and gasped as an image appeared on the screen.   
A large humanoid bull Digimon was beating up on a group of Koromon and Yokomon who were scrambling around on a small island. It was obvious that the small in-training Digimon had meant that island to be inaccessible from land, but the other Digimon had made it across. Even as they watched, the large interloper grabbed a single pink Digimon and threw it into the ground hard. He seemed to be demanding something. Izzy pushed his image on the screen.   
"Got a problem guys. That big one is a Minotarumon, an Ultimate level Digimon of unknown powers. His Darkside Quake attack involves that huge drill on the end of his arm. If he gets close enough to one of us to use it, we're goners."   
Tai pounded his hand on the ground. "We can't just give up, can we?"   
"We can't rush in and fight him either." Izzy pointed out reasonably.   
"We can't just give up!" Matt yelled.   
"Yeah Izzy, we've got to do something." Sora sounded upset.   
"I didn't say we couldn't do anything, I just said we should come up with a plan. And I have one. Here's how it goes…" 
> 
> Kari stood up from her vigil beside TK and rejoined the others.   
"Will he be all right?" Yolei asked.   
"Yeah, he's just tired, and exhausted, and cold and hungry. He probably needs to just rest." Ken nodded knowingly. "He really took a lot out of himself today."   
"He's good though." Armadillomon was considering something.   
"Yeah, he is." Ken shook his head and hugged Wormmon to him. "So, did Hawkmon find anything out there worth looking at?"   
"There is the ruins of an old road behind those hills over there. It looks unused, so we could probably take it to go look around." Yolei turned back to Kari. "Kari, are you all right?"   
"I'll be fine." She did not sound fine.   
"Don't worry Kari." Gatomon touched her on the shoulder. "He'll be all right."   
"Why don't you go take a walk?" Ken suggested, exchanging a glance with Yolei.   
"Walk? Sure…OK." Kari got up slowly and walked off.   
"I'll go with you!" Davis shouted.   
"Oh no you won't!"   
Kari walked away from the cheerful gathering slowly. Something in her was hurt deeply by seeing TK in pain, and she was not sure why. Did he mean more to her than she had thought? After all, this was not the first time he had seen him in terrible danger.   
A brief flash, a moment of falling, falling into darkness, a frightened face of a young boy, a glowing golden radiance, Kari banished the memories almost immediately. Others swarmed up to take their place, but she shook her head and tried to clear it. Why did TK mean so much to her?   
For a moment, she stood paralyzed in place, waiting for something to happen, something to make sense, but nothing did. As her thoughts chased their way through her mind, another image seemed to appear in her head.   
She was looking out of someone's eyes at something she had never seen before. Around her soared Digimon of every description, and other things as well, beings that looked like angels and flying robots and machines of war. They soared through a crystal sky, miles above a deep blue ocean, with the salt breezes ripping through her hair as it trailed off behind her. The sky was full of them, soaring in all sizes and shapes and speeds, racing through the wind and the air and cutting through the ocassional cloud like they were tissue paper.   
Kari felt like jumping for joy, perhaps indulging in a squeal or two at the sheer beauty of being able to fly with such speed, such force, and at the power of the accompanying wings. But then she realized that the person who was doing the flying was feeling anything but mirth, a touch of apprehension and fear. And those around her were staring ahead, keeping their facial expressions carefully neutral, watching only ahead. Instead of being happy, these people were serious, focused and nervous.   
Kari started when a voice spoke in her mind, echoing in her thoughts.   
"We've gotten the first line, but those Reaper demons are playing havoc with the right flank. You've got to kill those carriers before they launch against the battle line."   
"I copy." The woman opened her mouth to respond. "All units, I repeat, all units, designate the carriers. Blue squadron, gold squdron form on me, we're going in."   
The sky tilted crazzily as the image twisted and suddenly she was diving toward the ground. Tiny specks there began to race upwards, their screams echoing in her ears like her worst nightmares, but the crowd around her was unleashing vast powers hammering downward, and then the world exploded in death and destruction.   
Kari shook her head as the image faded abruptly, wondering, abstractly, what kind of image that was. As her thoughts moved around in her skull, she ignored a mass of cracking sounds above her.   
_Hikari, look out!_   
She moved without thought, throwing herself out of the way. A split second later a huge branch crashed down where she had been standing a few moments before. Kari stared at it a moment, adrenaline pumping through her system, and then slowly regained her breath. She looked around for whoever was responsible for warning her, but saw nobody. Puzzled, she frowned and returned to camp, to that island in the desolation.   

> 
> TK floated in a dream. He was standing on top of a mountain, a tall one, its roots disappearing below him into a vast, trackless forest. It was night, or at least evening, and the sky was vaguely lit by a red and black glare from one side, the reflections of a disappeared sun. The mountain itself appeared to be carved of black rock, rock like obsidian, gleaming like glass and standing upright like a natural tower in the ground of the forest. Everywhere he looked he could see vague landmarks, but they disappeared, as if they were shrouded in a dark cloud, or as if he were floating in a sea of mist. Beneath him was a sharp drop off, falling away toward ground that looked like it was a good thousand meters beneath him, vague and indistinct. He backed up nervously as a small shower of pebbles broke away beneath his feet, hurtling downward into darkness.   
"Takeru Takaishi." the voice was flat, calm and unemotional. He turned around to view a tall man standing behind him, black cape flying around his shoulders, silver and gold armor adorning his body. "You cannot win this war without Hope."   
"But I have Hope." TK protested.   
"Perhaps Takeru, but you have no understanding of how your crest actually works. As such, you are, in a way, helpless. Until you unleash the full power of your crest, your friends are doomed, and your time is limited."   
"I thought I didn't have the crest anymore!"   
"You can't get rid of it that easily. You brought it into yourself, do you think you could seriously abandon it like that?"   
"Well we did!"   
"Not even Gennai has that kind of power. You still bear the crest's markings. Now they form your last Hope."   
"Then how do you use it?" TK demanded, trying to stay away from the figure.   
"Are you afraid of falling off this mountain?"   
"Yes, what does that have to do with this?"   
"Good." With one stride the man was at his side, grabbing him by the collar and, with a powerful thrust of his arm, throwing TK over the side, sending him spiraling toward the Earth below. TK could feel himself begin to scream as he spun through the air, and this time, there was no Angemon to save him. 
> 
> TK jerked upright, sweating heavily. He felt nervousness roll off him in a wave, as the remnants of the dream faded into his memory, if not his imagination.   
"TK, you're awake." Kari yelled behind him, grabbing him around a shoulder. "I'm so glad you're awake."   
There was an odd weight on TK's stomach, and he looked down as a lump of the blanket he was sleeping in rustled suddenly and a familiar orange set of ears poked up. "Yeah TK, you wouldn't want to miss dinner."   
"You're sweating, are you all right?" Kari asked, sounding concerned.   
"Yeah, bad dream."   
"Maybe I should have woken you up earlier. You were thrashing around a little." Kari now sounded apologetic. And nervous for some reason, something that made TK wonder briefly before he forgot about it.   
"Don't worry about it. And Kari?"   
"Yeah?"   
"Th…thanks for watching out for me Kari." It was a good thing that it was already night, and darkness was already setting in, so that neither saw the other blush.   
"Come and get it!" Davis yelled. "If he doesn't get over here, I get TE's share."   
"Davis!" Yolei yelled.   
"If you cooked it, you can have it." TK joked as he walked over and sat down with Kari trailing behind him.   
"No, me and Ken cooked it." Gatomon looked at him. "I'm glad to see you back on your feet."   
"I'm glad I still have feet."   
"Well, time for some soup." Ken suggested. He held out a strange wooden bowl filled with a thick, rich vegetable soup and TK took it, smiling gratefully.   
"So did anything happen during my nap?"   
Kari looked disturbed, but nobody else noticed.   
"As a matter of fact, yes. I think that Yolei and I figured out why we can't make our Digimon digivolve like they can back in the regular Digital World."   
"Really, why?" Davis asked.   
"In the Digital World, when a Digimon divigolves they take power from their human partner and the world around them to accomplish it. For our Digimon, since they are good, they require the energy of all that is good in the world and in their partner to do this. However, here, in Parsifal, which is a world shrouded in darkness, they cannot draw the energy of Light from their surroundings, and can only draw it from their partner. This means that they simply do not have the strength to DNA Digivolve anymore, not without a massive infusion of power. Angemon is nearly the embodiment of good, and it will take a lot more than anything we have at the moment to Digivolve him again. It's like before he learned how to Digivolve the first time, it took a lot to make him do it."   
"Well, that explains some things. Any ideas?"   
"Not really." Ken shrugged. "The Digimon in that village back there mentioned items of power hidden in the mountains that might be able to help us. We think that we should be able to follow those paths."   
"Sounds like a plan to me." Davis yelled. "Let's get going tomorrow. We can get through those mountains and find something that'll allow us to turn the tide on that nasty Khartan guy."   
"Ssoo…you seek to destroy my master…not wise for you to reveal yourself by Digivolving…" a new voice rasped over them, this one loud and evil and hollow.   
"We've got company!" Davis yelled unnecessarily, raising his Digivice.   
"Veemon…digivolve to….ExVee…ExVeemo…a little help here!"   
"What's wrong?" Davis demanded.   
"I don't know Davish. I just can't seem to Digivolve."   
"We wore ourselves out fighting earlier." Wormmon looked around wildly. "I can't do it either."   
"And Gatomon can't digivolve at all, so that leaves me. Don't worry guys. I'll take care of everything." Yolei held her D3 out as a familiar light began to emanate from it.   
Hawkmon…Digivolve to….Aquilamon.   
"Figure out what's going on out there Aquilamon!" Yolei yelled.   
"I can answer that." Ken replied from where he was fiddling with the scanner. "I'm reading a whole nest full of Digimon. I have a Dokugamon, some undead Digimon called Raremon and a whole patrol of Bakemon. I think we've got problems."   
"Bakemon are weak enough we should be able to take them with our rookies." TK yelled, "but the other two are tough. We better get out of here, while Yolei holds them off."   
"C'mon everyone." Davis was up and running, grabbing his stuff from the ground and shoving it in his backpack. "Time to go." Ken and Kari followed his lead.   
"Aren't you packing up?" Cody asked as he grabbed his stuff.   
"I'm already packed." TK smiled. "Besides, Yolei might need a hand if Aquilamon gets exhausted up there."   
"Then I'm staying to." Cody made up his mind and wrenched around in his tracks.   
"No Cody, you don't want to be foolish. You aren't strong enough yet."   
"This isn't about strength." Cody replied, unsheathing the sword he had been given. "It's about honor, and what it means to be a friend. And seeing how you were passing out a few hours ago, you shouldn't talk."   
TK fought off a wave of dizziness, looked down at the younger boy, then smiled. Both of them were not really up to fighting, but it was something that had to be done. "All right Cody, let's go get them."   
Suddenly the ground behind them wrenched upwards and erupted into a fountain of earth, finally resolving into a Digimon that looked like a giant gray slug. It smelled awful.   
"Well, there's Raremon." TK muttered.   
From the other side a huge spider crashed out of the brush, followed by a horde of white-sheeted ghosts.   
"And there are the Bakemon and Dokugamon. Showtime."   
Aquilamon dived out of the sky, stooping like a hunting hawk, horns glowing, unleashing his Great Horn attack on the Dokugamon, sending it flying back into the horde of Bakemon. Even as everyone scattered the Dokugamon up righted itself and fired off a series of purple threads from its mouth, filling the air with poisonous, burning thread. Aquilamon danced on the air currents avoiding the fire, having drawn first blood. Veemon rushed ahead and slammed into the spider, sending it falling backwards. Wormmon and Armadillomon fired simultaneously, catching Raremon off guard, and giving the other Digidestined a moment to run for their lives.   
"We've got to get out of here!" Davis screamed again, unnecessarily.   
"Of course, let's go." Ken backed him up.   
The Bakemon started moving forward again. TK met the first one, swinging his staff around, and there was a comforting thunk as the first ghost collapsed on the ground, eyes flashing like a train signal. Cody waved his sword around, frightening two more away from him, but the others closed steadily.   
"Lightning claw!" Gatomon rushed upwards at the Raremon, heading straight for his eyes.   
"Breath of Decay!" A blast of fetid, explosive air rushed back down, sending Gatomon flying to land in a limp heap on the ground.   
"Gatomon!" Kari rushed over to her fallen friend, even as Davis shouted desperately at her.   
TK swore at himself, and then blocked another Bakemon and slammed it back with the end of his staff, trying to find a way out for him and Cody. Behind him, he watched Kari grab her fallen feline friend and cradle her white body to her chest, crying silent tears. A Bakemon almost ripped the staff out of his hand, and he was suddenly reminded of how recently he had been completely exhausted. His heart sank as he watched the evil Digimon surround him, flashing white with black claws bared. Cody slashed at one with his sword and it backed off.   
"What do we do TK?" Cody asked. "I don't think we can hold them off much longer."   
In the sky Aquilamon was suddenly hit, and spiraled downward, crashing into the ground some distance away, rumbling to a stop, and laying there.   
"Get up!" Yolei screamed, and then she screamed again as two Bakemon grabbed her from either side, pinning her in place.   
The Raremon lurched forward, grunting, its stink permeating the air. One massive appendage rose above Kari's head and slowly descended, freezing the moment in TK's mind. He could feel the Bakemon overcoming his defenses, he could feel Cody's calmness and hopelessness, he could feel Yolei's terror and the sudden agony of Davis and Ken. He could feel the Digimon trying to fight. He could feel Kari's heart as she watched the blow that would kill her, and inside he raged in frustration at his helplessness, even as a sudden sensation felt like it was ripping his heart out. That feeling sped outward, ripping and tearing up his soul until finally it erupted down, out of the piece of solid fire that was stuck to his hip, and out into the world. In his mind as well as in his ears he could hear a familiar voice scream out the fateful words.   
"Patamon digivolves to...Angemon!"   
"Hand of Fate!"   
A beam of brilliant golden fire, brighter than the sun, and more awe inspiring, flashed by TK, over his head, arcing downward like the wrath of a lose piece of the heavens, descending to unleash its anger on the inhabitants below. Roaring like a hurricane, tearing up the ground like a tornado, it struck Raremon in the center, exploding him into a million pieces of disintegrating data.   
"Angemon." TK smiled. "Go get them."   
The helmeted angel gazed down, and TK could feel the invisible eyes boring holes in the helmet as the magnificent figure gave back some of the Hope that had been leant in his creation. "Don't worry Takeru. I won't let you down."   
Suddenly he shot aloft again, six feathered ivory wings pumping magnificently, blazing in the halo of the power of a true angel. The staff twirled around hypnotically, drawing the eye to it as it glowed.   
"Angel Rod!"   
The staff exploded into a thousand shafts of light, reaching out like arrows and hammering into the Bakemon, scattering their data to the four winds. For a moment TK felt like he was standing in the middle of a rain of diamonds, and then the light shot backwards, reforming into the staff.   
"Poison thread!" A shot of purple thread erupted upward from the Dokugamon, aiming at the flying angel.   
"Hand of Fate!" A bolt of celestial fury shot downwards, obliterating the purple thread and exploding the spider Digimon into nothing.   
For a moment Angemon just stood there, and then he was surrounded by a golden nimbus that gradually reduced itself in size and intensity until only Patamon was there, falling toward the ground to be caught by TK.   
"You all right Pata?" TK asked, cradling the orange and white mammal in his arms.   
"I've been worse. Do you have any candy?"   
"Sorry pal, though you've more than earned it. Anyway, we better get going."   
"That was so awesome!" Davis slapped TK on the back. "Angemon is the bomb. He's almost as good as ExVeemon."   
"How did one Champion beat so many others?" Ken mused.   
"Simple." Kari had recovered and was now walking alongside them. "Angemon is no ordinary Champion. He's an angel Digimon, a being of light who is especially effective against those who serve the darkness. Since those Digimon gave themselves to evil, he was incredibly effective against them. The same thing happened to Gatomon." The white cat nodded in agreement.   
"Well, regardless of his incredible powers, we better make tracks. We'll carry you guys if we have to. C'mon, let's go!" Davis was frantically dancing with impatience.   
"All right already." 
> 
> "You can stop now." The voice was calm, confident, a challenge in its own right.   
The Minotaurumon looked up from where he had just finished pummeling a small Koromon into the ground. His bullish eyes narrowed dangerously and he snorted angrily as he gestured at them with his drill arm.   
Taichi Kamiya did not even flinch, his eyes focused angrily on that of the Ultimate Digimon. Beside him Agumon stood calmly, composed, waiting, a veteran warrior preparing to return to battle once more. They stood alone, marking the course packed earth of the shore with their shadows, immovable, letting the wind blow by them without responding to it. Their eyes and faces were resolute.   
"You demonstrate nothing picking on the weak. What did they ever do to you?"   
"They disobeyed my master." The Minotaurumon spoke in a horrible growling thunder, grating on the ears of those listening. "Daemon must be obeyed."   
Tai felt his heart lurch in his stomach at the mention of the ill-omened name, but his face remained resolute. "Daemon, eh? Well, I guess Daemon will be disappointed, because you are going to leave those Digimon alone now."   
"And why would I do that fool?"   
"Because if you don't, we're going to make you."   
The Ultimate threw his head up and laughed. "You? I have heard of you Digidestined. Your powers are now weak, but Daemon will reward me well for destroying you."   
Tai dropped back, one hand flashing to his belt and bringing up his Digivice. One Champion against an angry Ultimate. Well, nobody ever said life was easy.   
Agumon digivolve to….Greymon!   
The minotaur looked at the huge orange, brown and blue dinosaur and laughed. "Is that all?" he charged across the water, holding his drill arm out.   
"Nova Blast!"   
Greymon dropped into rapid fire mode, filling the air with blasts of fire that whistled close in and exploded next to Minotaurumon. Each explosion did not do a lot more other than slow him down, but they were starting to weaken him.   
"Time to go!" Tai jumped up on Greymon and the dinosaur took off, running for the forest edge. Minotaurumon raced after them, racing and trying to get his Darkside Quake attack into range.   
"Let's get him!"   
"Howling Blaster!"   
Garurumon, with Matt riding on the back, shot by, a stream of blue fire hammering Minotaurumon back towards the water, stunning him. Another stream of fire lashed at him, but he forced himself off his knees and to take the offensive, racing after his new opponent.   
"All right, they're off the island. Fire at will."   
"You got it Izzy!"   
"Harpoon torpedo!" A huge black horn whistled over the lake and suddenly exploded into a familiar set of green missiles that dropped down out of the sky and hammered the brown minotaur.   
"Meteor Wing!" Bolts of flame toppled to earth like their fiery namesake, immolating the ground around the now confused Ultimate. Birdramon and Ikkakumon were the two Digimon that he was unable to touch, one standing in the middle of the lake, the other flying above.   
"Needle spray!" Togemon marched in from the forest. Garurumon turned around and Greymon bared his teeth. As one they sent a horrible volley of fire lashing at the Ultimate, driving him backwards. He was still strong, but he was getting hit too many time, and he could not bring himself into attack range. Nevertheless, he was still a powerful foe, and he roared in rage as he threw himself at his opponents.   
But his target was simply not there. Greymon backed off again, and the concentrated fire of Garurumon and Togemon caused the angry Digimon to stumble to a halt. Even as he collected his thought, another salvo by Birdramon and Ikkakumon slammed into him.   
For a few minutes the battle continued in the same way. The grounded Digimon disappeared before Minotaurumon's raging attacks, and their continued fire was wearing him down. But the Champions were not tireless, and now they were beginning to pay the price.   
Suddenly Greymon de-digivolved into Agumon. Minotaurumon howled in triumph, rushing in to crush both Tai and Matt who had come to his aid.   
"Now, finish him!"   
Kabuterimon darted over the water at full speed, his wings straining. With a single scoop he grabbed Minotaurumon in his arms, lifting him up and carrying him upwards. Even the giant insect could not have accomplished this against a full strength Ultimate, but Minotaurumon was weakened by the hammering blows. As he howled in frustration Kabuterimon was moving higher and higher, over the clouds and beyond. And then, in one terrifying moment he turned around and dived toward the ground. Wind rushed by the frantically pumping wings as the ground loomed large in his vision. He could feel his arms weakening as the confused Minotaurumon realized something was amiss and tried to break out. Just a little more, just a little more…   
Minoaturumon broke free of the grasp of the giant insect, exhausted, for just a moment, before Kabuterimon released him. There was a moment of sudden exhaustion and disorientation as the insect suddenly retreated in the minotaur's view, and then a sudden dawning moment of realization.   
And then he slammed into the side of a mountain at a speed just slightly greater than the speed of sound. The explosion blasted away part of the mountainside, and when the rock dust cleared all that was left was a few specks of disintegrating data. 
> 
> "I think I strained a muscle." Agumon tried to reach over his shoulder to his back.   
"I think my wing's busted." Tentomon tried to strech frantically, mulling over the damage caused by his super-accelerated flight.   
"Daemon?" Tai was talking to a Koromon. "What's he doing here?"   
"He came through a magical gate not long ago. He started collecting evil Digimon and sending them out to attack and conquer the countryside. Now, his evil cronies control the whole world."   
"Magical Gate! Where is it?"   
"At his castle at the Blood Spire. He calls it the Pinnacle. It's over there." The pink Digimon bounced in the direction they had been travelling. "If you're really the Digidestined, he's been looking for you. He won't hesitate to stop you."   
"This confirms my theory." Izzy pointed to his computer. "He controls the gate. We must sneak towards him and avoid as much confrontation as we can before we can destroy him and use the gate to rescue the others."   
"Whoever this creep is, when I'm done with him, he'll be through!" Mimi smacked a hand into her glove emphatically.   
"Let's go get him!" Tai's voice was cold, but his eyes were uncertain.   
Matt raised an eyebrow at Tai's new uncertainty, but nodded.   
Together, they set off to war.   

> 
> Interlude: Koushiro Izumi 
> 
> I still remember the first time that we mounted a night watch. It was that night that Seadramon attacked us, the one we spent on the bus that eventually took us home. Of course, the action was already over by the time I took my shift, but I had a weird night anyway, and a scary one. Back then I still wasn't ready to trust in Tentomon, and I kept seeing monsters in my mind, lurking behind me, waiting for me to make a mistake. I was resolute in the face of my fear, and when the time came for me to abandon my shift I felt a sense of accomplishment. I felt that I had faced terror and survived.   
I think that was my most terrifying moment in the Digital World up until our second attempt to reach home. Before I was always confident in my skills, believing that my skills would provide me with an answer, and that the answer would be the correct one. I guess I forgot to account for the fact that I could be wrong, that it was possible for me to fail. That one moment, when Tai chose me to find our way home, I was terrified. Of course, logic puzzles were my hobby, and his choice was the logical and right one, but for the first time I knew that worlds would suffer if I didn't get the right answer. When I triumphed there, I ultimately regained my confidence in myself, and in my mind.   
Today, I had another terrifying moment, one that tested me. I knew that for my insane plan to work, I had to hold back while my friends were in danger, and the truth is that was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. It's easy to think up a plan, to cover the most probable contingencies, to attempt to account for all possible variations. But, this is reality, not a fairy tale. There is a moment of horrid realization as the plan goes into action, a moment of shocking truth, much like that which occurs to the chessmaster who has moved his pieces and now watches his friends march off to war. To realize that your friends lives are now in the hands of a plan that you created, and that you can do nothing to help them is one of the hardest things in being a leader.   
Tai feels down and out. He knows that it was my plan that succeeded, that we really aren't respecting him as a leader. The truth is that, if I have become an impromptu leader for our little group, I would do anything to give the burden back to him. But this task is too important, the stakes too high. And though he is best fit for bearing the burden, all of us must pitch in to help. More to the point, I can't not help him.   
I guess we all do what we have to do. No matter how much it scares us. And maybe that is what makes us heroes.   

> 
> Interlude: Citadel 
> 
> Dawn came at the usual time, but the Basiton of Light was still covered in shadows. Slowly, like the marks of a passing flock of clouds, the shadows moved across the city, only to be replaced by others. On the ground, there was a distinct lack of activity. No schools were in session this day, no office management jobs were functional, street sweepers and public works officials took the day off. Everywhere people were standing, staring at the sky.   
Above them the sky was filled with power. Warship after warship filled the sky with their commanding presence. Dreadnaughts and Supercarriers blocked out the sun, while their escorting warships followed them, giving the impression that a school of fishes was making their way across the sky. A single one of those warships was always impressive, a fleet was beyond compare. But this, this was Citadel's War Fleet, and the air was turned black with barely contained rage and fury as the warships of the Light made their way to the front lines.   
Here and there smaller dots flickered in the sunlight that marked the dawn, flitting about like buntings, but with a serious air that spoke of a more determined approach. They were the wings of Megas and Ultimates who would provide air cover along with the heavier fighters and bombers of Air Command. Carefully they wove their way through the overhead warships like the wind itself, sometimes staying in the clear, sometimes almost caressing the sides of the monsters they guarded. But eventually they to moved onward and left the scene, filling the air behind them with the turbulence of their passing.   
From far away, the citizens of the city could see the flare of light from an interdimensional transit, in the direction the warships had been heading all morning. And from the top of the tower the dwarfed even the spires of the palace below, a single figure stood on a narrow balcony and watched the flying fortresses fade into another world. He was young in appearance, though perhaps bent with age and the weight of the mistakes he had made and the lives he had forfeited in the past. One hand strayed up absently to finger the hilt of the sword he wore, and then dropped back down. And then, finally, as the last of the ships disappeared, he raised that hand again, perhaps a salute to brave warriors, perhaps a tribute to the dead.   
Then Gennai turned and re-entered the tower. Once more, the storm had come. The Dragon Host had flown. Citadel had gone to war.   

> 
> Note: I'll try to cut out some of the action, and give you more character. Except I think I suck at character writing. Any comments (but please no flames) can be sent to danalwyn@hotmail.com   
  
  



	4. A New Old Friend

Ep4

> Disclaimer: I still own nothing. I definitely don't own Digimon. Please don't sue me.   
Author's Note: Please excuse my verbosity and tendency to introduce things awkwardly. I needed to introduce some concepts, but I'm not sure if I did it well. 
> 
> Episode IV   
A New Old Friend 
> 
> TK's voiceover: Well, we all started out looking for ways to get at the gates. We got attacked by Khartan's followers, but Angemon finally appeared and we wiped the floor with them. Meanwhile the others found a village being attacked by an Ultimate Digimon called Minotaurumon. Using superior teamwork, they took him out, but our old enemy Daemon is in charge of the Digital World! 
> 
> "Are you afraid of falling little child of Hope?" the figure thundered, holding onto the front of TK's shirt in one massive fist, his eyes burning with silver fire.   
"Yes. I'm afraid. I don't want to die!" TK screamed at his tormentor.   
"Good. Learn from it!" the man released his hold and TK found himself spiraling downward from the mountain, heading toward the ground far below, accelerating and accelerating until…he woke up, sweating.   
"Bad dreams?" somebody asked.   
TK looked over to see Gatomon sitting next to him, leaning against the sleeping Patamon.   
"Yeah. Why are you up?"   
"Nightmares." The white cat did not elaborate.   
"Who's on watch?"   
"Davis, but he's busy over there. Want to talk?"   
"I don't know. There's some guy, he's holding me up on the top of a mountain. He asks me if I'm afraid of falling, and I answer yes, and then he throws me off."   
"That's different from most." Gatomon just stared at him.   
"And it's not the first time. I had it earlier, when I was sleeping off my exhaustion. He told me I had to have Hope, and then he threw me off."   
Gatomon shrugged, but her blue eyes were intense. "Sometimes our dreams send us messages TK. Sometimes we have to listen. It sounds like you've received a warning. I would heed it."   
TK nodded. "What about you?"   
"I was reliving what Myotismon did to me when I was still Salamon. Several times. It was unpleasant."   
TK was struck by the sudden memory that Gatomon was a Digimon with a dark past, a past that she shared with nobody, not even Kari, and that haunted her to this day.   
"If you ever want to talk, you know we're here."   
"I know. Go back to sleep TK. I need to think for awhile, and remember."   
"Good night Gatomon." 
> 
> As dawn spread over the horizon, Ken stared at the meager remnants of last night's dinner for a few moments before sighing.   
"I think we'll need more food. You know how everyone eats." Wormmon wiggled up onto Ken's lap.   
"I think so too. When do you think everyone will get up?"   
"Well, Gatomon, TK and Patamon will probably sleep for a while. Veemon will be up soon. Davis won't be. Cody's already splashing water in his face. Yolei, Kari, Hawkmon and Armadillomon will probably start showing up sooner or later."   
"Grab Cody and Armadillomon, and we'll go look for food. Wake somebody else up and tell them where we're going."   
"Right." Wormmon went on his way.   
Ken stared after the green worm for a moment, before turning back to figuring out what he wanted. After a bit, Cody wandered up and looked over his shoulder.   
"I think we better go look for something to eat. We'll need it today."   
"Right." Cody woke Armadillomon up, and he and Ken set out into the woods.   
"So what did you think of Angemon this time?" Cody asked, more to break the silence than to start any meaningful conversation.   
"The first time I saw him, I was still the Digimon Emperor. It's not something I like to think about." Ken narrowed his eyes.   
Cody walked on for a moment before raising his eyes. "I'm sorry Ken."   
"No, it's nothing like that, although the memory pains me. I think that the Dark Spore was active at the time, and was thinking by itself. When it saw Angemon…" he shrugged and turned, eyes burning with an odd emotion Cody could not name. "…it panicked. There was something about Angemon that caused the Spore and almost primal fear, a terror that was rooted in what he represented. I tried to banish that fear, and even went out of my way to try and prove that you Digidestined were nothing to worry about. I even included Angemon's wings on Kimeramon to prove that I could control him, but something about him continued to worry the Darkness inside."   
"Do you know what?"   
"Oh yes. I recognize the emotion now. Fear. The Darkness is terrified of Angemon."   
"Probably because he's an angel. He probably does extra damage." Armadillomon suggested.   
"But he wasn't that special earlier." Wormmon reminded them.   
"That's because he was against the wrong enemies. The Digimon I controlled weren't evil. The control spires nearly nullified his own power, and the Digimon that crossed into the real world weren't evil either for the most part. But against those of darkness, his power is incredible."   
"That makes him all the more valuable." Cody noted.   
"Yeah, but in a world of evil, that makes it harder than ever for him to digivolve. We'll have to be careful."   
"Hey look, berries!" the rest of the conversation turned to more mundane topics. 
> 
> "Wow, breakfast!" Davis was excited. Veemon was ecstatic. Kari just giggled.   
"So, what do we do today?" Ken asked as they dug in.   
"I think we should find that old road. Maybe there's something along it that could help us. At the least, it'll get us away from those creeps." Davis punched the air for emphasis.   
"I think that's a good plan." TK contributed, chewing on some wild grapes.   
"Of course it is. I thought of it. Of course, we might not want to follow the road directly, we could stay off to the side, to keep from being seen."   
"Now that's a plan." Ken looked off to the side. The road was a ribbon of stone, smooth like asphalt stretching off into the distance. In this case the distance was the end of the valley they had found themselves in after fleeing the previous day's attack. The sides were covered up to a point with pine trees, above with tall rocky peaks. Everywhere, there was the sounds of an alpine forest, and the sight of clear, crisp air, and bare rocks.   
As they finished up breakfast, Davis was so enthusiastic to get moving that he almost left the rest of them behind. TK and Kari followed him, Ken and Yolei followed them, and Cody brought up the rear, everyone walking along above the road, where they were obscured by the trees, but the road was still visible. Every now and then it vanished from perception behind a screen of green leafy branches that waved gently in the breeze, but for the most part, the road stayed visible.   
About midday Davis, who was still in front, suddenly held up his hand. After a few seconds he whispered   
"Stop!"   
They all froze for a few moments while he peered out of the vegetation. Then he gestured quickly and the rest of them came up to take a look over his shoulder.   
On the road below a group of Monochromon stamped through, red eyes glowing. Behind them came another group of Tyrannomon and a squad of Bakemon. For several tense moments they walked by, and then they disappeared off to the horizon in the way the Digidestined had come from.   
"They're out looking for us." Ken noticed.   
"Well, they aren't finding us." Armadillomon chimed in.   
"Good thing too, I don't want to have to hurt them." Veemon added impudently.   
"Well, we'll just have to be extra careful now." Davis looked up. "We can have lunch in about an hour, and then we can go on until dinner."   
Lunch, however, provided them with a new problem.   
"Well that's great." Davis muttered, one hand behind his head. "So now what?"   
"Haven't a clue." Ken looked out.   
"Well, whatever we decide, we should probably decide it fairly soon. We're sitting ducks out here." Hawkmon noted clinically.   
"But how do we know which way is best?" Cody wondered.   
"We could flip a coin." Patamon suggested.   
"Or roll dice." Gatomon chimed in.   
"Since we aren't actually trying to go anywhere in particular, does it really matter?" Yolei wondered.   
"Looks the same to me." TK remarked.   
Kari and Veemon just shrugged.   
Ahead of them, the road divided into two different roads, one headed away to their right, and one headed straight forward. Both roads appeared identical, disappearing into different valleys, and rapidly moving out of sight.   
"So, right or left?" Davis asked. "I know, we'll go left."   
"Why left?" Cody was curious.   
"Because the last time I had to make a choice like this, I chose right and ended up in the girl's bathroom. So we'll go left."   
"Good old Davis. Well, it's just as logical as going right. C'mon, let's go left." TK reshouldered his backpack once more. Patamon stopped hovering and settled on his hat. 
> 
> "Okay, well, this is what we technically call a dead end." Yolei noted sarcastically, looking over Davis' shoulder.   
"How can you tell? We can't even see the other side!" Davis exclaimed, gesturing grandly. Ahead of him, the remains of a once proud city stretched. Where there should have been towers challenging the heavens, instead there were circular and square walls of stone, badly decayed and falling towards the ground. Several columned buildings that looked to Ken like pictures of old Roman buildings were already toppling downward, still maintaining their wings without retaining much else. Streets that once must have been wide were now choked with broken stone and fallen pillars and overgrown weeds. Everywhere there was the mark of fallen stonework.   
"The good thing about cities is that it's easy to sneak through without being seen." Ken remarked.   
"Well, this isn't much of a city. More of a ghost town." Yolei noted snappishly.   
"That makes it easier to sneak through, right guys?" TK asked.   
"Right!" Veemon shot his hand up in the air.   
"Well, let's go do it." Davis muttered.   
"Wait a minute, how do we know it's safe?" Kari asked.   
"Because it's at least as safe as it is here." Davis declared. "C'mon, let's go."   
A few minutes later, a nervous Veemon began to jerk his head around. "Does anyone besides me find this scary?"   
"Or creepy?" Hawkmon added.   
"Or nervous?" Armadillomon wanted to know.   
"How about all three?" Davis suggested.   
TK had to admit that he had a point. Walking along those deserted streets, without a single sign of life, was slightly unnerving. Everywhere they looked, it was empty, filled with the signs of habitation, but without the people who would normally be inhabiting them. The fountains were quiet, the streets dark, and everywhere was quiet.   
"Hey listen!" Patamon exclaimed. "I think I hear somebody talking over there."   
"Well, you would be the one, with those ears and all." Davis responded. "Let's go have a look."   
Quietly they crept over the rough terrain in that direction, avoiding the broken buildings, and staying in the shadows provided by several different lumps of masonry that littered the street. Suddenly, they could hear the voices quite clearly.   
"Are you sure about this? I wouldn't want to disappoint our Lord." The voice was rasping, almost hoarse. Eight of the travelers knelt down, but the other four froze in place.   
"Oh boy…" Gatomon muttered.   
"It's him." Patamon noted unnecessarily.   
"What are you guys talking about?" Davis asked.   
Kari and TK just looked at each other. "Machinedramon."   
"Machinedramon? Who's he?"   
"That guy who was supposed to be a ruler under Khartan. He's a Mega-level machine Digimon with an attack that can level entire city blocks. We can't defeat him, not as we are." TK was speaking fast and roughly now.   
"Look, there he is." Ken pointed through a gap between buildings, his face pale.   
Machinedramon, huge and hulking as always, his huge gray bulk looming against the surroundings, stood in the middle of an old forum square. He was speaking to a figure that was completely black, floating a handful of meters off the ground. It was wearing a set of black armor that enclosed every nuance of its being, but it seemed to absorb the light around it. Odd glints and protrusions demonstrated clearly that the black armor was lined with a series of very unpleasant spikes and hooks, something that only enhanced the evil look of the hovering creature.   
"I am very certain they are here Lord Reaver. I had their tracks followed. They were wise enough to avoid the road, but they came this way, of that I am certain. We have walled off the valley. They won't escape. They are here. They cannot have escaped."   
"Then why do I sense some power, some nerve-wracking…wait…yes Machinedramon, you are right." The voice paused, almost oozing with thick black oil that threatened to bury the kids and their Digimon alive. "They are here, somewhere."   
"Then I shall leave it to you, my Lord, to dispose of them." Machinedramon began to stomp away loudly.   
As he passed out of sight, the one called Reaver looked back towards the place where they were hiding. "You can come out now. You're hiding does you no good."   
"Uh-oh." Patamon murmured.   
"All right! Let's show this creep who we are!" Davis yelled.   
"How 'bout we don't." Kari suggested, but he was already out and charging.   
"So, you are the new one. You humans and your tendency toward wearing goggles interests me. Is there some arcane historical reason for it?" Reaver stepped down to the Earth, which seemed to creak as it was forced to bear his weight. The various hooks and spikes on black armor faded from view, absorbed by the armor itself as the blackness streamlined.   
"No…" for a moment Davis was stumped for ideas. "They just look cool. And the leader of the Digidestined always wears them."   
"Ah." The figure seemed to nod in understanding even though his head was too fixed to move. "A memorable tradition. I shall take them off your dead body and mount them proudly with my other trophies of conquest."   
"Oh you will, will you? Veemon!"   
"That tears it, Hawkmon, Wormmon, Armadillomon, go!"   
"Patamon, you up for this?"   
"I think I am, give me a moment."   
"Veemon digivolve to…ExVeemon!"   
"Hawkmon digivolve to…Aquilamon!"   
"Armadillomon digivolve to….Ankylomon!"   
"Wormmon digivolve to…Stingmon!"   
"Patamon digivolve to….well, at least I'm still cute."   
"That's okay Patamon. We know you tried."   
Reaver smiled at them without showing his face, and adopted a strange stance, holding his hands out in front of him, one of them peaked downward, one of them raised at his throat, vertically upright.   
The pose sturck Patamon for a moment, triggering something deep in his memory, something that Angemon knew, something important…   
Gatomon's eyes widened and as one, the two Digimon shouted. "No, don't do it! Get away!"   
But it was too late. The four Champions, speed blurring their forms, raced inward, screaming toward their target. For a moment they shifted within striking range, and then Reaver was gone. He shot upwards like a rocket, but faster, blurring into a darting shadow with the speed of a stray piece of lightning. Moving so quickly nobody could truly track him, he touched each of the four Digimon lightly, and they were suddenly surrounded by auras of light that faded as they de-digivolved.   
"Now we're in trouble." Kari remarked unnecessarily.   
"My turn. Give me everything you've got TK!"   
"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!"   
"How'd he do that?" Davis asked. "I didn't even see him move."   
"He didn't hit them that hard." Ken noted clinically even as his body raced toward the fallen Wormmon. "It must be a special technique."   
Angemon looked at Reaver for a moment and then dropped his staff on the ground with a clatter. Everyone stared at him in shock as the weapon fell over, creating a cloud of dust on the still ground. Then the angel spoke, his voice distant, as if he was speaking from years away.   
"The Satoro Gesai is an art of precision. The key to defeating it lies within disrupting that precision, disrupting the form of the art, and preventing that precision from destroying you. Such is the secret of that which forms the heart of the Asra-Dan-Catrel." As he spoke he moved his own arms into a position in front of him, guarding his face and his chest, wings tilted upwards, waiting in stillness.   
"Ah." Reaver seemed to brighten tremendously. "So you may be able to nullify my own ability with the Satoro Gesai. But, as you should know, that is only a hobby, a sidelight to my true power."   
Angemon did not move, did not even seemed to be ruffled by the wind that blew through the city square. His face and his body were calm. Gatomon looked out at them and smiled sadly, one luminous tear gathering in one blue eye.   
"So be it." Reaver moved decisively back into his original position, as if he had made a decision. "A master of the Claw of Death against a practitioner of the Dance of a Thousand Stars. Such sport amuses me."   
For a moment nobody moved. Then Angemon spoke.   
"Gatomon, you know what is at stake here. Get the others out of here. If you can, if you remember enough, you must teach them the Asrana'Dactal. I have neither the strength nor the patience to do such. And I fear that after this battle I will lack the ability as well. Good luck old friend." His voice stopped, and then suddenly, the two figures crashed together, arms, legs and body blurring together. With sudden thunder the air between them erupted in discharges of golden and black energies, destroying buildings, dashing out stones and creating craters out of smooth earth.   
"C'mon, we have to go." Gatomon gestured. "Kari, you first. You Digimon with her. Ken, Davis, drag TK with us. He won't come without it. Go now!"   
Ken and Davis grabbed the unresisting TK between them, hauling him over the rough remains of the streets. TK felt them getting farther and farther away from the confrontation, but he refused to react, his heart and soul staying behind, fighting with Angemon against his dark opponent, trying to stay there, frantically trying to aid his friend in any way he could. As he was dragged further and further, tears formed in his eyes, the same tears that had fallen all those years, when he had lost his protector to Devimon. And yet he could not move, could not force himself to run back, to help his protector in his chosen, glorious battle. 
> 
> _Angemon…_.the voice whispered in his head, above the roar of the battle that the great angel was slowly losing.   
For a moment he could see a figure, wearing majestic silver and black standing in his vision. For a moment it reached out a hand, and Angemon, acting out of instinct, reached out in return and accepted it. And then he screamed as he was thrown violently from control of his own body. He could still feel it, but he had no control, his limbs moving of their own accord.   
So he could feel it as his body pulled out of the battle, as Reaver was left behind, frowning. He could feel it as a feral grin spread over his face and a voice entirely not his own left his mouth.   
"And now, the Satoro Gesai, in under thirty seconds." The grin became vicious.   
It should have been impossible to move like that, but Angemon's body was thundering through a series of nearly baffling movements in a hurricane rush as if time was standing still. Every move was thought out, but was snapped off at lightning speeds. For a handful of seconds, Reaver's frantic maneuvers kept the damage to a minimum, but his sudden reaction meant that he too understood the significance of the change of attitude. Perhaps that moment of realization of the new foe he was facing was the critical point, or perhaps not, but suddenly, through a small slip that was almost imperceptible, his seventy-third node was left open. And one hand, slim and powerful chopped down like an executioner's axe.   
Reaver's eyes opened wide, staring through the faceplate of his armor, as his body crumpled, refusing to obey his commands. The presence that had taken control of Angemon's body released him in a rush that left the angel breathless.   
"Another time." He gasped. The surge of fire in Reaver's eyes let him know that the date would be kept.   
Then he was gone, looking for TK. 
> 
> "Now which way?" Davis asked Gatomon, as she scampered along.   
"How about…" she began.   
"Giga Cannon!"   
The explosion rocked the ground beneath them, and then they were falling down, into layers of old abandoned tunnels, or flying through the air as the blast blew them apart. 
> 
> "TK! TK!"   
A small voice was nagging at TK's unconscious mind, trying to get his attention. He turned away to the side, trying to ignore the voice, but it returned repeatedly. After a bit he groaned a few times and opened his eyes to try and find out what was keeping him from his much deserved slumber.   
A familiar sight greeted him. Two wide-blue eyes stared down at him, full of concern, and then full of joy. Next thing he was being hugged by someone with arms that were not wide enough to get around his chest.   
"TK, you're all right!"   
"Sure I am. How did you survive Patamon!"   
"I don't know, it was really weird, but I had to come find you. How are you feeling?"   
"I guess I'm all right, but Matt's band is holding practice in my head. Maybe once they stop pounding on things, I'll be all right."   
TK sat up and groaned, feeling his way around. They were in a dark tunnel, the only light coming in from a rather large hole above his head. Several different tunnel junctions ran in various directions.   
"We gotta get out of here." Patamon suggested.   
"Okay, okay." TK held up his D3. There was a familiar pink signal nearby. "Okay, I see Kari. How do we get to her?"   
_ Take the next left_   
"Okay Patamon, the next left it is. But why?"   
"Uh…TK. I didn't say anything." Patamon's voice had risen noticably in pitch.   
"What do you mean you didn't say anything. If you didn't, who did?"   
"Nobody did TK, nobody said anything."   
"But I thought I just heard…"   
_You did._   
"There it was again. Did you hear that Patamon?"   
"I didn't hear anything."   
"Well, whoever it is, they know more than we do. So let's just go through the next left."   
Patamon looked worried, but he followed TK as the human made his way through the next tunnel to his left, passing through darkness and stone blocks dripping with moisture on their way to brighter places. For a while there was nothing but darkness, and occasional holes in the side of the walls.   
_ Through this hole._   
TK turned and obediently walked through a narrow crack in the wall. It was a squeeze, but a few meters later he was inside a much larger structure, with corridors branching out in all directions.   
_Third on the right._   
TK stepped through that one and kept on going. Patamon was now really anxious, but suddenly they could hear voices ahead.   
"He told me to stop here."   
"I still don't hear anything Kari, and my ears are better than yours. I think we better be careful. Or maybe you got hit on the head."   
"I know what I'm hearing Gatomon, and I think we can trust him."   
"Well, I don't."   
"Kari! Gatomon!" TK ran forward, now making out their shapes in the dim light.   
"TK!"   
"Patamon!"   
There was a moment while the four of them rejoiced in the fact that they were not alone. TK caught Kari up in a bear hug, and then coughed uncomfortably and set her down, blushing furiously. Kari was just grateful that the darkness hid the heat that had risen to her face and the burning in her ears.   
"Patamon, TK, Kari must have hit her head or something. She says she's hearing voices."   
"TK's saying it too." The two Digimon stared at their humans.   
"But we do hear a voice." Kari told them plainly, her voice worried.   
The two Digimon just stared at them disbelievingly.   
"I can speak to them better than I can to you." The voice thundered out of the empty air, nearly deafening the foursome. In the distance, dust began to fall toward the fall at the impact of that wave of unconstrained sonic force.   
"Well, that settles that." TK replied after a moment while the two Digimon sat there, stunned looks on their faces. "So what's up?"   
"I have a problem." Gatomon spoke uncertainly, turning to Patamon. "I don't remember enough of the Asrana'Dactal. And I don't think it could be taught to anyone besides TK and Kari."   
Patamon looked up. "I was afraid of that."   
"What is the Asrana'Dac…whatever?" TK asked the two curiously. "Why did Angemon mention it."   
"Well…" Patamon sat back on his haunches, looking at TK in the posture that meant that he was thinking deeply. "It goes something like this. When I'm Angemon, I know things that I don't as Patamon."   
"But you're the same person, aren't you?"   
"Yes and no TK. Being Angemon is sort of like being in a dream and not knowing it. A whole bunch of things have happened to him that I only have vague memories of when I'm Patamon, and much of what I know about you as Patamon I really don't remember as Angemon. For instance, as Patamon, I don't totally have the feel for walking on two legs, but as Angemon I probably couldn't remember your favorite type of ice cream. That make sense?"   
"Sort of, I guess."   
"Well, Angemon knows a whole bunch of things. Some of them are, well…" Patamon trailed off as his eyes searched the dark ceiling above him for answers, "I guess we'll call them martial arts, but they aren't the same as your arts, okay?"   
"Sure. You're the expert."   
"Well, these martial arts are the arts of fighting as used by people with power, real power They use not only the body's energy, both its mental and physical energy, but they also use those same powers that fed your crests and your Digi-eggs. And you all know what those did for you, right?"   
"So, anyone who can tap into those becomes really powerful."   
"Yeah, they do. They're incredible as a matter of fact. Now, there is a world with a country with a lot of monks. And these monks study a variety of things, using their studies to bring them closer to enlightenment. Some of them write poetry, very good poetry actually…"   
"What does this have to do with anything?" TK interrupted. Patamon shot him a look.   
"I'm getting to that. Anyway, some of them do art, some of them meditate and so on. The reason Angemon remembers them is that some of them spend there entire life training in the art of war." The small mammal fell uncharacteristically quiet. "They have developed an art of immense power called the Satoro Gesai, or the Hundred Steps of Death."   
Gatomon nodded silently, reinforcing her partner's explanation.   
"The cornerstone of this art is the body's own energy. They have found that the body uses a series of critical points, they call them nodes, that can be deduced from their movements and the aura of their life forces. There are a hundred of them, and the more training you have, the more you can recognize. It was using these that Reaver was able to defeat the other four, he touched one of their nodes and basically paralyzed them, draining them of their energy with a single blow."   
"So that's what the Satoro Gesai is. I wondered why you said that." Kari was calm, but her hand shook a little.   
"But Reaver truly uses an art known as the Claw of Death. The problem with the Claw of Death is that it is a mental art."   
"A mental art."   
"Yes. For all its mental training and preparation, the execution of the Satoro Gesai is truly a physical art with a very physical purpose. The Claw of Death is a mental art, allowing its practitioner to use their mind to summon up the powers of darkness to defeat you, sort of like what evil Digimon do naturally. The real problem is that they can also use those mental arts to influence others. It's sort of like what Puppetmon and Cherrymon did to Matt way back when. They can cause doubt, sow confusion, and make you lose confidence in your abilities, turning your own fear against you."   
"So, he can destroy us from within and without?" Kari sounded openly scared now.   
"Yes, which is why Angemon tried to take precautions. Both Angemon and Angewomon are practitioners of another art, the Asra-Dan-Catrel, the Dance of a Thousand Stars, that art which is motion instead of force, calmness instead of haste, but action instead of despair. It is itself a physical art at its lower levels, something that concentrates on the physical to defeat your opponents. But the Asrana'Dactal, the Starblade, is an art that combines the mind and the powers that dwell in your crests with your own physical coordination to defeat your enemy both within and without. Just a little training in that art will allow you to resist the attacks of Reaver, and prevent him from destroying you from the inside. But neither of us remember how to do it. I'm sorry TK."   
"That's okay Patamon. You tried."   
"Is anything stronger than the Asrana'Dactal? Something we could learn?" Kari wanted to know, sounding anxious.   
_Perhaps the Dactal'voran or the Exultation of Light. But you neither have the time, nor the confidence, to engage in such training. For now, you will have to content yourself with the Asrana'Dactal or the Asra-Dan-Catrel._   
"Are you still there?" Kari asked of open air.   
_I thought you should know that you should probably start moving._   
"Which way?" asked TK   
_Down this corridor until it comes out._   
"Okay, come on you guys, let's get going."   
Patamon shrugged, an enormously expressive gesture for a creature who had no shoulders, and followed the two humans as they went down the tunnel. 
> 
> "This is weird." Kari remarked, looking around. "Where did the city go?"   
They were standing in the middle of a forest, surrounded everywhere by bramble and bushes that were higher than their head. The sea of green was slightly moving, but it only served to hide what was behind it in any direction. At their feet, there was a cluster of flowers.   
_This is important. Stare at the flowers. Do not let your eyes wander off them. Follow the trail. You'll know when to stop._   
TK shrugged, relayed the instructions to the Digimon, and looked down. A blotch of rose-red flowers was at his feet, followed by a cluster of yellow ones. As he went along, he was struck by the way the different flowers sat together.   
Suddenly, he was struck by an odd sensation, the realization that everywhere around him he could almost sense the trees closing in on him. The back of his neck started to itch, and he could feel unfriendly eyes boring in on him. The darkness around him seemed to coalesce into a physical force, and the once bright greenery deepened into a midnight black. He felt like screaming, but kept his eyes on the brightly colored flowers, despite the feeling that something was crawling up the back of his neck with the intent of sinking inch-long fangs into his neck.   
Suddenly, they were standing in light once more. A gruff voice spoke to them from the side, loud and angry.   
"And what are you doing here. You'll need more than those pretty eyes to get me."   
A wrinkled, gray skinned, old looking woman wearing green clothes and carrying a large broom was standing off to one side, scowling as TK's eyes jerked off the path. She did not look either happy, or used to having visitors, but when they made eye contact her gaze sharpened.   
"Ah, perhaps I was too hasty in my assessment. You would be Takeru Takaishi. And you would be Hikari Kamiya. I have been warned to expect your presence at some point." She rubbed her chin in a fashion that reminded Kari of her energetic Grandmother. "I suppose I should play the gracious host, no? I am Babamon, and welcome you are to my abode."   
They looked around. Everywhere there was a green meadow ringed by pleasant trees, the sky glowing a deep, sapphire blue overhead, illuminating the landscape. Here and there patches of wild flowers bloomed, adding a display of color to the universal tracks of green. A small cottage stood in the middle of the clearing. Babamon gestured them to enter, and then followed after them, closing a large wooden door behind them, and leaving them standing alone in a rather large room with a heavy wooden table.   
"Sit down, sit down. I will get you some tea. And I suppose those others bungling around in the woods are your friends and allies, no? I shall see that they find their way here shortly, and keep Reaver and his ilk from finding us."   
"Excuse me, but what do you know about us, and why?"   
"Ah, wanting explanations you would be. It is just as well, you deserve answers."   
"Then you could explain some things to us?" Kari wanted to know.   
"Yes, but I think we shall wait for your friends to arrive. We would not want to be impolite, would we?"   
There was a knock on the door as the old Digimon re-entered carrying a plate filled with twelve cups of tea. The old Digimon politely set the tea down and went to go open the door.   
"Ah, and you would be Cody Hida. I have been expecting you, please come in and have some tea."   
"Uh…well," Cody entered and caught sight of the other four sitting around the table. "TK, Kari, you're all right!"   
"Yeah, where's Armadillomon?"   
"Right here." The brown and yellow Digimon clambered into the room, making a beeline for the tea table, as if looking for something to eat.   
TK and Kari filled him in on what had happened when there was another knock on the door.   
"Hmmm….long black hair, that would make you none other than Ken Ichijoji. The girl would be Yolei and the boy with the goggles would be Davis. Your other friends are expecting you. I hope you can stay for tea."   
After a brief reunion Babamon ushered them through the beginnings of tea, and then sat back in a pile of cushions.   
"I suppose you wonder what is happening in the world now, no?"   
"Well, yes." Cody spoke up courteously. "If you would care to enlighten us, we would appreciate it very much. We are very confused."   
"Hmmm….I guess I should start with the worlds. You are aware, I hope, that the many worlds here are interconnected. Each world that bears life is connected in some way to every other. That which you call the Digital World, a shadow of your own world is in turn connected to the other worlds, and it is to one of those other worlds that you have passed."   
"Yes, Izzy confirmed that once." TK noted, remembering the red-haired genius' convoluted logic.   
"Well, a long time ago there were civilizations everywhere, populated in many cases by those creatures we call Digimon. Many other creatures lived with them. Mostly, there lifestyle was calm and quiet, peaceful. Meanwhile worlds like yours were developing technology, science that was able to effect the other worlds. When your worlds erupted into the digital age it created a massive effect in the worlds inhabited by Digimon. Everything started moving a lot quicker, information was transferring faster, and in general time was accelerated.   
"Before that time evil was something that happened from time to time, and either died out or was suppressed by those near it. However, with the sudden increase in the information flow that forms the lifeblood of the Worlds, Darkness swept across the lands. It was a horrible age as Darkness ruthlessly crushed Light, and life was a suddenly horrifying possibility. The war crushed all in its path, the tyranny that followed made sure they stayed broken.   
"That was the start of the Great War. And that is a history in and of itself. It was a dreadful time, more so for the people living there than you can possibly imagine. It was, how should I say it, a time of great despair. And in the end, the victory which had been so dramatically sought was nowhere to be found. Instead, the forces of light and darkness have managed to maintain a balance, not unlike that which normally governs all worlds.   
"But the forces of Darkness were not satisfied. The Dark, knowing that they now had time, built up tremendous forces in anticipation of another war, another chance to invade innocent worlds. They amassed powers beyond your comprehension, set them to trying to destroy the Light, and held them back carefully, waiting for the right time to strike. Those adventures you already have had were merely diversions, here you face their true power."   
"I knew it." Ken smacked his hand down. "When I first saw Khartan I understood the power behind him, and I knew what it was. It was way too powerful. There's no way we could match it, not like we are."   
"There are forces that can fight against the Darkness." Kari protested, her voice sounding hollow in her own ears.   
"But what? If they have enough power to render what we have already faced as nothing more than distractions, how can we stop them? We just aren't strong enough."   
Babamon nodded, saying nothing.   
"But…" Davis protested feebly.   
"But nothing. If they've decided to go to war now, we've already lost the first round. They'll crush us like insects. It will take us years to fight back at that level. What can save us? Who can fight something like that?" Ken was pounding the table now, tears running down his face. Yolei recognized that expression from when he had tried to open the Dark Gate, he was scared, terrified even of the Darkness that seemed forever waiting to swallow him.   
Babamon spoke up in a whisper, something so fragile it seemed it would shatter, or fly away at a whim like a gossamer butterfly, but hard enough to cut steel. "The word has reached our ears now, for we listen well. The fields of Rodina and Selkirk are covered with the shadows of their floating fortresses. The forests and mountains of the borderworlds surge with their troops, until those who watch can only exclaim that the land itself moves in concert. The air of the Heart Worlds pulses with the beats of the wings of armies. Citadel, fortress of Light, is going to war."   
There was no measured interruption, no commanding voice, but Ken slowly lowered his hand. Around the table the others merely stared at the wizened old Digimon.   
"War, how many years has it been? And now the Wings of the Fleet are moving out of Citadel, armed for war. Millions of Digimon, millions of other races, all will rally to their cause, follow their glowing banner to war. Powers that the Connected Worlds had hoped to forget will be ignited once more and used to forge the blades of war. And here, on a forgotten, out of the way world, you twelve will have to learn how to save your own world."   
"What is Citadel?" Kari asked quietly.   
"The fortress of the Light. I have heard it described as Heaven's last Fortress on the Mortal Plane. Impressive, no? I was there once, but that was long ago. Bah, I am an old woman now, with an old woman's worries. They made your crests you know…"   
"What! Our crests?" TK leaned forward eagerly.   
"Indeed Bearer of Hope. They still bear the original channels of that Higher Power, but now you carry a small piece of it as well, buried inside your heart. And these others shall soon have their own."   
"What, we get crests?" Cody asked, shock breaking his normally impeccable manners.   
"We have the crests?" TK asked.   
"They made the crests?" Ken looked amazed briefly.   
"Yes indeed. They were the first to forge those conduits of power to a Higher Plane, and they bear their true powers, not the powers of those which you have now. That power, once realized, cannot be released or taken away, ever. It may be harder to activate than it used to be, but that power is strong enough to give even the greatest of the powers of darkness pause."   
"So once you get your crests you carry it forever?" Davis asked.   
"True."   
"I want to get a crest someday." Davis sighed wistfully, his eyes distant.   
"Why?" Ken and TK both noticed that Babamon suddenly seemed to focus upon him.   
"Well, to impress Kari. But only a little bit. The reason is that I think I need it. I'm not a quick thinker usually, but even I know that we're in a lot of trouble. I guess I want a crest to help us get out of trouble. I mean, it won't get us out, but it will at least let me fight better and help defeat the bad guys. Well, I hope it would, it wouldn't be worth that much without it. On the other hand, I suppose any help is welcome, but I think I really need a crest to help my friends…but it would be better, I mean it would be…I'm just confusing myself now."   
"And helping your friends is so important to you, yes?"   
"Yeah, I mean, we fight sometimes and all, but they're still the best friends I ever had. And they're great at it, and I owe them so much. They're important to me, and I need them, and that's all that matters." Davis looked up, eyes shining. "I may not be that good with words, or with thinking fast, but I know what needs to be done."   
"I see." Babamon paused, and then reached behind her and lifted up a piece of stone, square, with a graven image that looked like a tripod of sticks on it. She held it out in front of Davis.   
"Take this!" She commanded, and almost of their own free will, Davis' hands reached out and took the stone from her grasp.   
Almost immediately, it began to shrink until it was a piece of red material that almost looked like plastic, the same size as before, resting in the air between his palms. Then it flashed downward and entered his chest, resting there for a moment before disappearing.   
"And onto you Daisuke Motomiya, by the authority granted to me by Citadel and by the living Light, I bestow upon you the crest of Loyalty. May it serve you well."   
Everyone stared.   
"And now, you will be wanting to stay the night, no? Perhaps you would be helping me with some dinner." 
> 
> Outside the stars came up, everyone went to bed full except for TK and Kari, who talked with the old Digimon well into the dark night. 
> 
> Interlude: Daisuke Motomiya 
> 
> I have a crest now.   
It means a lot to me, although I suspect that nobody else will ever truly know how much. It seems somehow to justify everything I've been doing for these past years. In some ways, it was bull-headed stupidity that saved us from MaloMyotismon, and that worked for a time. Now though I think I have to take the next step to make things work.   
Maybe I'm not perfect. Actually, I know I'm not. I don't think well or quickly, I act impulsively, and occasionally I do almost everything possible to offend everyone around me. But I'm getting better now, and I think I'm ready for the next level.   
But now I need something other than stubbornness to save me. I need something stronger inside. The crest of Loyalty. A tripod. You take out one leg and the whole thing falls down. Am I strong enough to use it?   
I hope so.   
I have what I need to stare down evil. But do I have what I need to stare down what is inside myself and bring the crest to life. 
> 
> Interlude: Loyalty 
> 
> It is said that you must look at a man's works to know him.   
Perhaps it is too much a cliché to work, but the truth is that it provides insights to valuable to miss. And now the thought resounds in my head, how would the man who created the Dactal'Voran, the Blade of War, from its ancient origins, the man who alone bore the title of the Incarnation of the Blade of War, the man who wears the seal of Justice, approach this problem.   
For many moments the data in front of me rests as just that, numbers, abstract to the extreme. A series of lists, supplies, times, dates, transport times, costs, ordinance lists, personnel assignments. But I too am a practitioner of that sacred art, the art of war, and inside me I can feel the numbers flying around, assuming a new meaning that transcends its origins.   
And there it is, lying in the maps, passing through the figures. The vibrating heart of the Sword of War, quivering deep into the enemy's body.   
"He's a tricky one, isn't he?" the words leave my lips in appreciation, soft, but audible. And Gennai always has had extremely good hearing.   
"Justice?" he asks. "How so?"   
"There it is." I point. "He can travel through worlds fast enough to achieve his goal. Dawngate to Refarhk to Celestine's Gate, to Encinder, to Hammerhold. With those new supply ships he has, he doesn't have to worry about supply lines, he can go straight through."   
Gennai's gaze doesn't waver as he speaks. "A plan which would leave him lying exposed in Hammerhold, only a single transit away from the Dark's fortress at Cormere. He would be surrounded, isolated…"   
"And perfectly safe. They'll waste more time surrounding him than trying to stop him, trying to ring him in. And Hammerhold is a transit away from Seven's Gate, which is a clear trip through to Blueaxe, which just happens to border our territory. We never bothered with it because the gateways in are so limited and constrained, and covered by enemy fortifications. But the forts are pointing the wrong way. If Fourth Wing just happened to hit those forts from behind, they could blow enough of a hole for someone to get through. And coincidentally, Fifth Wing is adjoining Blueaxe over in Lincoln. If he blows through there, he'll have a clear passage through to Hammerhold, a new set of fortifications, and the ability to cut off anything that moves down that axis that runs through Refarhk from behind."   
"An interesting assumption." Gennai's voice is clear, and he does not let his gaze flicker.   
"More interesting than that would be the fact that it leaves him with a fortified base just one transit away from Cormere. If he seizes that, he'll have seven new lines of attack to pursue. The Dark will throw everything they've got into defending it. Casualties taking it will be tremendous, especially through tight beamed gateways."   
"Indeed."   
"But he isn't going there. If he can turn back instead, he can transit to Phoenix, where the Empire of the Phoenix is still holding out against the Dark. By taking that world he frees a huge industrial base for our use, a huge boost to production and reinforcing his troops. Not to mention that through Phoenix you can practically walk over to Seventh Wing's area of operations. He may have his eye on Cormere, but you can bet he has some trick for it that we don't expect. From there he can solidify his hold, having taken a comfortable chunk of their possessions, and then strike somewhere else."   
"You may be right." Gennai's face is an elaborate admission all his own, and his tight lipped smile beams approval.   
"But that doesn't matter, does it? Not to us. I need authority to execute Pharsalus two in the field, and I want to see what kind of logistics we can drum up to help us with Borodino."   
"Well, we'll have to see what we can do to get you that." Gennai's face is friendly, but his eyes never leave that map, and neither do mine.   
_I hope you haven't bitten off more than you can chew old friend_. 
> 
> Author's Note: There, another chapter finished. Another day's work. Things might go slower now, because I have other work to do, but if you made it this far, you're already flattering me. Thanks for the reviews I've recieved so far. Any comments or advice can be sent to danalwyn@hotmail.com, although I cannot say if I'll have time to write back (school is hard).   
  



	5. The Power Restored

Disclaimer: Who owns Digimon

Disclaimer:Who owns Digimon?The correct answer Regis, is not me.Final answer.

Author's Note:It takes a long time to write these things.With school back on, I don't know if I'll be able to do it as well.Besides, I think I set a goal too ambitious for myself.Nevertheless, I will try.For those who are still reading thanks a lot!It's still blasted long, isn't it?

Episode V 

The Power Restored

TK's voiceover:We went on a really long walk to get away from Khartan's forces, but we ended up trapped by this new evil guy Reaver, who knows some weird martial arts.We got away, thanks to a strange voice, to meet Babamon, a wise old Digimon.She gave Davis a crest, the crest of Loyalty.How cool is that?

"So, you say the forces of Darkness were defeated?How odd."

"Yeah, the guy watching everything said something like Fourth Wing's entire Order of Battle." TK watched Babamon as she suddenly froze with her tea cup halfway to her mouth.After a moment she set it down.

"Fourth Wing in Refarhk?What are they doing there?"

"Is something wrong?" Kari asked quietly, trying not to disturb any of the other sleeping people or Digimon in the next room.

"No, no…_He_ is there, I am certain of it." Babamon stared at the ceiling, her mind clearly leagues away.

"Who?" TK wanted to know.

"Justice.It would have to be.I know it.Refarhk is too far out of the way to be anything else but a deliberately planned assault, and he never does anything without a reason.He's up to something and it's big."

"What does that mean?" Kari asked.

"I don't know.I must admit, strategy was never my strong point.However, I expect that it means that you may expect no help from them."

"Why not?They got us into this?" TK sounded bitter, even to himself.

"Because they have neither time nor effort to spare.They are on a campaign to liberate worlds.The survival of one borderworld is nothing to what they will gain if they can penetrate their enemies defenses." Babamon looked up at the ceiling."Although they wish you the best, they will be unable to help you."

"What does the Dark want?" Kari asked, eyes darting around at the shadows nearby.

"Power, souls, life, wealth…" Babamon hesitated for a moment, her tea cup poised carefully in front of her old lips, her eyes uncannily sharp."…you."

"Us?" the two humans asked.

"No.You.Kari.She is perhaps the most useful of you all."Babamon swallowed a sip of tea, but her eyes never wavered, resting knowingly on the suddenly pale girl in front of her.

"Me?Why me?"

"The crest you were given, that of Light, is perhaps one of the most powerful of the fundamental forces of creation.It embodies a tremendous power, one that cannot easily be matched.However, you have accessed the power, but you are also the weakest of those who have.TK has the same power, but his is not as developed, and his defenses are stronger.Your early exposure, your innocence, has left you the weakest of them all.If they can take you and turn you to their side, it will give them a victory over the Light that will be not easy to reverse.Therefore, you have become a prime target."

"Is there any way we can protect Kari?" TK jerked forward, eyes gleaming in shock.

"There exists a ring that can hide her power and help ward her from the easy access of darkness.It is a powerful ring of warding, forged by the Original bearer of the Seal of Light out of the heart of a rainbow.It can keep the Dark from finding her, and can hold her fears and nightmares at bay."

"Do you know where it is?" TK's eyes were narrowed in an obscure pain, his jaw clenched with veins standing out.The anger and fear in his voice were clearly evident.

Babamon sipped her tea again before answering in a dry voice."It is on her right hand."

Kari jerked upright like she had been slapped and held out her hand.The ivory ring glinted in the pale firelight, sending flashes of rainbow color throughout the room."You mean this?" she asked, almost breathlessly.

"I mean that.I have no idea of the true scope of its powers, but it should serve you well."

TK seemed to breathe again.So did Kari.After a moment, she asked a question.

"So, will you be coming with us on our journey?"

"No, I will not.I will stay in my protected houses and stay safe, as few would pester an old woman, no?"

"But…"

"Allay your fears young lady.I may not look it, but a Mega Digimon am I, and my power is that of misdirection and avoidance.I will not be found, not until I am ready.It is you who must act to save the world."

_Not this again_.

Ken could hear himself think the words as he watched spellbound.In front of him, intangible, yet incredibly real, was the image of the Digimon emperor, whip lashing at the helpless Digimon in front of him.And there, among them, heads bowed under the weight of the dark spirals around their necks, bowed the other Digidestined.He watched as the whip reached up and descended again and again, on Davis, on Cody, on Kari, on TK.On Yolei.He listened to each of them rear up, screams filling the air as the heavy whip slammed down on their backs.He watched the tears roll down their faces.And he screamed in impotent fury at the uncaring sky.

"No!This never happened!It didn't end like this!"

From the mist behind the Emperor he could see the shape of Oikawa materialize, dark and foreboding as always, coming up from behind like he had every other time Ken had experienced this same nightmare.But instead of ordering still more tortures upon the Digidestined the tall man in black raised a heavy hand and opened his mouth.

"STOP!" he roared, his voice echoing over the desert of the dream."In the name of the eternal Light, be ye gone!By the power of Citadel, fortress of Ages, I cast you from this place, for all time!"

The Emperor turned around, but this time the voice that was emitted from his throat was no mockery of Ken, but a roar of a deeper, darker evil, within which resounded the echoes of the Dark Ocean."You think that you can drive me out of here old man?You are more a fool than I thought."

"I have the power, and now I have the right." Oikawa's figure was unchanged.

"Here, in what was once the Heart of Darkness?" the Emperor's voice was suddenly louder than before.

"Yes, even here." Oikawa's response was level and even.

"And even Darkness can have a Heart.And it is that which may prove your undoing." A new figure appeared, BlackWarGreymon, towering beside Oikawa, one claw flung out in ghastly challenge.

"Begone from here!Your power is used up, and now, the tide has changed.Begone!" At the last work, Oikawa's arm exploded into rainbow incandescence.The figure of the emperor shrank up and evaporated before that light.Then the light faded and there was only Oikawa and BlackWarGreymon, looking as they had moments before they used their energy to protect the Digital World.

"So, Ken, I see that you've changed much." Oikawa's voice was cheerful now, and somehow wistful."I'm glad that horrid black spore didn't affect you after it was removed."

"Mr. Oikawa?" Ken's voice was reduced to a whisper, barely echoing in the domains of the now empty desert."BlackWarGreymon?Is that really you?"

"Yes it is Ken Ichijoji." BlackWarGreymon smiled, a tight lipped vicious looking smile, but a genuine one."I regret that in life I did not even learn your name, but now I am prepared to make up for my grievous folly."

"How did you get here?" Ken asked slowly.

"Sacrificing ourselves to help protect the Digital World gave us certain powers and certain insight.We can aide those who seek to protect the worlds in strange ways.And today, we could drive out the demon that was plaguing your dreams, making you forget what you are." Mr. Oikawa smiled, the smile of a man who knows that finally he has found a purpose in life.

"By becoming protector's of the worlds we found our true purpose in life, something that helped us gain control over who and what we are.We hope that you, like us, are now comfortable with what you once were." The Mega Black Digimon's voice rolled over the emptiness around them.

"Remember to be true to yourself.You're stronger and better than you realize." Mr. Oikawa raised one hand, as if in farewell.

"Good luck former adversary, may you fight well." BlackWarGreymon raised one claw in an unmistakable salute.A warrior saluting an ally, a gesture of promise and trust.And then they faded away.

Ken woke up gasping, looking around wildly.The house was quiet, even Davis' snoring remained somewhat subdued.The only change was the armband he had gotten from Courage, which was glowing an incandescent white.

Tai sat at watch and scratched Agumon's head carefully.Behind him the fire sparked and crackled as the next set of logs tried to burn themselves up.Agumon was half sleeping, but he was still awake, aware of the turbulent thoughts swimming through his partner's head.

"What's wrong Tai?" he asked after a while.

"Nothing." Tai stated flatly, and then sighed."No, I guess it is something.I was just wondering if I was still fit to be the leader."

"What do you mean?You're a great leader." Agumon jerked up, eyes brimming with sincerity.

"I was once.I guess I'm decisive enough, but think of all the times I nearly got us killed just because I was trying to be a hero.Or listening to my anger.Then it almost got us killed, and I think that we can't risk that again."

"Tai, you can't doubt yourself.You do a great job."

"Yeah right.I do a lousy job.Look at that last battle.All I could think of was running in and blasting everything in sight.Izzy would make a much better leader than I would ever be."

"Tai, you can't say that.You have to believe in yourself.Everyone else does." Agumon was nearly frantic with worry about how Tai was sounding.

"Do they?I just don't know…" and then Tai fell silent and stopped speaking until Sora relieved him of his watch.

Joe listened to Sora settle down in her makeshift bed and watched the stars above him.Behind him Gomamon fed the fire to keep it from burning out.

After a while, there was a familiar weight settling down on his right and a clawed hand rested on his leg."So, what ya' thinking of buddy?"

"Nothing."

"C'mon Joe, you've got to be thinking of something."

"I was just looking at the stars.Wondering about them. They've stayed the same since our first night in the Digital World.I still recognize some of the constellations.They always stay the same." Joe sighed and watched some more stars pass.

"Not like you guys." Gomamon's voice in the dark was followed by an unusually large crackle of a burning log.

"What do you mean Gomamon?" Joe asked, still watching the fireworks show above.

"Four years ago, you wouldn't even have dreamed of coming along with us, would you?After all, you wanted to study to get into med school, and all that.If we had asked you to help save the world, you would have turned it down, wouldn't you?"

"Well, I guess…"

"But this time, you guys didn't have to come, and you came anyway.That's what matters.Isn't it?"

"Hmm…you have a point there." Joe watched a shooting star flash by briefly overhead before turning sideways to watch his partner.Gomamon looked serious for once.

"All of you have changed, a lot.You might not believe it, but the powers of your crests have settled in you, and it shows.You're a lot more responsible now than you used to be."

"Well, I don't know about me but…"

"Oh really." You could have cut logs with the sarcasm in Gomamon's voice."Who dug the fire pit this evening instead of letting us light a fire in the middle of a field of dry tinder?Who thought of making an extra pair of chopsticks?Who kept those huge nutshells we found in the field because he knew they would make great water bottles?Who made a rope out of vines in case we needed somewhere to dry laundry?Could it possibly have been good old reliable Joe?"

"Gomamon!That was just…you know…stuff…right?"

"But it's stuff that you do because you feel responsible.It's the power of your crest that settled into your heart.It makes you responsible."

"I see.I never thought of it that way."

"You should Joe.You really should."

"Well, so much for breakfast.Now what?" Mimi streched.

"I don't know.Any ideas?" Tai spoke tiredly, as if he were considering something.

"I think we better plan ahead." Matt suggested."Where do we go now."

"The best route is probably through those canyons up ahead.It will be hard to find us in them, and they run into the sea later on, and we can follow the beach a little way." Izzy pointed to a spot on his computer where the ocean was clearly visible.

"Hmmm…canyons, sounds good Izzy.Nobody from up here will see us there."

"What kind of terrain?" Sora asked.Biyomon looked unconcerned, but she could always fly if she needed to.

"What you'd expect from this place.Rocks, sand, a lot of uneven ground, not much there until we get to the ocean.They must get some rough weather to drive off all the fertile soil."

Joe looked around at the pleasant veranda of trees that loomed around them."That means that this could be our last chance for good food for a while, right?So maybe I should spend some time gathering supplies while we wait."

"Good idea Joe." Tai nodded."Why don't you take Matt with you, just in case you get into trouble."

"Sure."Joe pointed out to where the trees were thickest and started walking."You coming Matt?"

"Whatever." Matt mumbled, but his grin was bright.

They walked some distance into the wood before Joe saw what he had been looking for, bushes loaded with the berries that his Field Guide had suggested they eat, along with a collection of the plants with the healthy, potato-like shrubs.

"Why don't we get started Matt.You can grab the cheap potatoes and I'll pack the berries into something."Matt nodded and started to uproot the plants on the ground, carefully removing their roots and placing them in a folded leaf.

Joe looked around for a moment before spotting what he was looking for, a tall tree with a set of large gourds hanging from them.A few blasts from Gabumon, and he had knocked down five of them.Using Gabumon's blue blaster, he was able to blast out the insides, and polish them clean.Then he and Gomamon filled three of them nearly to bursting with the bright purplish berries.

After a moment of thought, he filled the other two with spring water from nearby, sealing them off with pieces of wood that he quickly whittled into corks with Gomamon's claws.Tying them to his back with some of that vine rope that he had used earlier, he started back to camp with Matt following right behind.

"I don't know what we'd do without you." Matt's voice, unusually soft, spoke up out of nowhere.

"What do you mean Matt?" Joe managed to keep from dropping his load.

"Well, you're always looking after us and everything.We never would have thought of being this prepared.I guess you keep an eye on all the mundane things.It's probably saved us more times than I can remember."

"Thanks Matt." Joe choked back a quick gulp, knowing how rare praise of that kind was from the normally quiet rock star.

"No problem Joe, that's what friends are for."

"So why is there only one gate to other worlds, if there are many gates to Earth?" Sora wanted to know as they wandered along.

"I'm not sure if there is just one gate." Izzy speculated as they walked along."Remember Apoclymon?"

"How could I forget?"

"Well, remember how Gennai told us he got here."

"Sure." Biyomon chimed in."He came through the wall of fire."

"Like all the names in that incarnation of the Digital World, it has a significance.Obviously, it is a parallel of a firewall, a powerful defense mechanism set up to separate one computer system from another.But what system are they defending against?"

"Hmmm…you could be right." Joe mused.

"My theory is that the Digital World is connected there to another world, a world of darkness.It is through the wall of fire that the Digital World is protected, but that implies the existence of another gate to another world.There could be still more, the Digital World is not mapped like Earth is."

"So why would that be?" Sora still looked puzzled.

"I think there are many worlds like our world, and that they all have their shadow worlds, worlds where ideas and dreams collide.My theory is that it is those worlds that are connected throughout the universe.So the Digital World would be strongly connected to Earth, and only weakly connected to other worlds."

"You came up with that all by yourself?I'm impressed." Sora smiled.

"Actually, I didn't.At least, not now.It's an idea that Ken, Willis and I have been kicking around for a while.But some evidence here, especially the mention of other worlds, has seemed to confirm it."

"So there are many connections to many different worlds,"

"Sort of, it's like, well, I can't describe it.Just imagine hundreds of worlds, all interconnected with some worlds.The device that we used the key cards in Myotismon's castle on must be the way in which you transport to more distant worlds."

"You think we can stop others from using them for evil?" Mimi asked, looking over there shoulders.

"I don't think we can Mimi…" Izzy voice trailed off as he absently rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

"Why not?Shouldn't we at least try?"

"No, I mean I don't think it's necessary.It seems that Gennai's group is taking care of that, and they have a lot more abilities than we seem to, some that we don't understand at all.He'll have to take care of it."

"Can he, I mean…"

"Judging from the power that was exerted by those who brought us here, I would answer in the affirmative."

There was a buzz overhead.Tentomon, who had flown upwards to scout out what was going on above them descended down to the ground, folding his wings up under his shell as he landed."I think there's another one of those towers up there, but it's pretty far away.I don't think they can see into the canyons."

"That's bad." Tai muttered, almost under his breath."That means that this Daemon guy has the whole area staked out.We gotta be careful and avoid him, until we're strong enough to fight him."

"Well, it can't be too bad.After all, they have to watch this place an awful lot.You would think that they would be exhausted by now, and be pretty inattentive."Izzy looked thoughtful again."They shouldn't be paying so much attention."

"We could sneak up to them and wipe some of them out." Agumon suggested, waving a claw in the air.

"Or we could not." Biyomon replied."No sense telling them we're here."

"Yeah." Joe spoke up."And besides, it's always better…"

"…to be safe than to be sorry." Everyone concluded with a groan.

"Joe, you haven't changed a bit." Tai gave him a big thumbs up.

"Well, we might as well take a lunch break." Gomamon snickered at the gathering red in Joe's face."After all, we're not really getting anywhere."

"I guess you're right." Joe noted.

"You should stop worrying about it Tai." The voice came over his shoulder as the leader of the Digidestined stared aimlessly down the canyons, absently chewing on his handful of berries.

"Huh?What do you mean?" Tai jerked his head around at the voice, but the tone had already identified the speaker.Joe stood there, long hair framing his face, staring down kindly at Tai through his glasses.Quietly he removed the pair of glasses and polished them on his shirt before putting them back on.

"You worry to much about your leadership skills Tai.We all believe in you.Isn't that enough of a reason to believe in yourself." Joe smiled at him.

"Joe…I wasn't…I…" Tai stammered.

"You want to talk about it?" Joe sat down beside him.

"Yeah.I just, I don't know if I can do it Joe.I don't know if I can lead us.

"I know.And I know that you can." Joe did not even seemed phased by Tai's confession.

"Doesn't that worry you at all?"

Joe stared up at the sky for a moment before replying."I think one thing that we learned while we were here the first time was that the most important thing about being a Digidestined is being a Digidestined.We're part of the family you know."

"But what if someone can't pull their weight?I can't think up plans like Izzy can, or cover all the details like you do, or cheer them up like Mimi does.What can I do?"

"You can believe in yourself.We all believe in you Tai.Every one.Izzy may plan better than you, but you act better in emergencies.That's why we let you be the leader.Because you're the best."

"What about you Joe?You still having problems?"

"No, I think I understand my role here now.Someone has to look out for everyone else, make sure that we stay safe.That's what the crest of Responsibility means Tai.It isn't about rushing out and saving us all, like you do.It's about keeping everybody safe.And that's what I have to do."

"You've changed Joe."

"Yeah, it's probably the food."

"No you really have changed.Ever since those first days at File Island you've changed a lot from the person you once were.You've become almost a copy of your crest.So why can't I do the same thing?"

"Because we're different people Tai, way different people.Everything you do is geared towards keeping your head in the face of overwhelming danger.Your instinct is to charge ahead.And now Kari's in danger, and there's nowhere for you to charge."

"I guess you're right."

"Probably."

"It's just that…I never wanted Kari to grow up.Sometimes it seems that she's just a little kid, and that I should be there to protect her.When she was with the other kids the first time, I felt that she would be all right, but now…I don't know Joe.It seems that we're involved with something much more dangerous, a lot more dangerous than anything we've ever done before.Is she ready for that?"

Joe absently picked up a rock and tossed it, watching it bounce down a hillside.His eyes followed its path, but the intensity of his gaze belied his innocent purpose.For a moment he saw Kari as a laughing, skipping girl, first encountering the Digital World.A moment later that was overlayed with another vision, a confident girl in pink and white commanding a squad of unruly Digimon in battle.And other memories intruded, a boy, younger, wearing a stained sweater, and scratched glasses, squaring off with Puppetmon and MetalEtemon, raising his fist in preparation for battle.

"She doesn't have to be ready Tai.None of us are ready.But she knows the job.She knows what she has to do.It's that meaning, that purpose inside of us that drives us, not the necessity of being ready.As long as she is willing to do what she knows needs to be done, and knowing Kari, she's always ready, she'll triumph.You gave her a good example, and now it's her moment to shine."

Tai stared for a moment at nothing.In his eyes he could still see his sister, with her fragile health, being taken to the hospital.He could watch her collapse with fever near the city of Machinedramon, and watch her terror as she was whisked off to a new world.But in front of them, there was another image, a girl, already transfroming into the full maturity of age, holding up one hand, exploding with pink light as she challenged the forces of darkness.And he came to realization.

Even though he still thought of Kari as a little sister, as a baby, almost incapable of defending or saving herself, she had changed.By the standards of the world she was young, but by her experience, she was old.Her power came from inside of her and made her strong, and changed her beyond the changes that mere years could wreak.It was that strength which had saved her time and time again, and now he could feel it, calm, confident, waiting to explode into full force.She was not his baby sister any more, but a champion in her own right, waiting to face the darkness once more.

Tai looked up at Joe, his gaze firming up.He smiled, and Joe smiled back, welcoming the new confidence that he saw in his leader's gaze.

Tai walked away, and thus missed the look of deep unease and half-hidden despair that flashed by Joe's face.

_A chain's only as strong as its weakest link_.

The thought echoed in Joe's head as he walked._I'm good at picking flowers and plants all right, and getting the team back together, but what about fighting?That's what we need, not a glorified crop harvester and apprentice doctor.What if I'm the one who is not good enough?_

The thought plagued him.No matter how many times he turned it over in his head, his weakness plagued him.He was the weakest at fighting, the last to fight when it turned to combat.When facing someone like the Digimon emperor, with his control spires, misdirection and avoidance had been the key.Now, it looked like they were once more going to have to fight their way through to the end, and he wondered if he could do it.

He told himself that he was being silly, but if anything, his conversation with Tai reinforced his own doubts.All those skills he attributed to Kari and Tai, all those seemed to still be missing.At the same time, his own strengths seemed completely useless to this expedition.

"Guys, we've got a problem." Tai's voice upon cresting a small ridge of rock froze them all in their tracks.He hit the magnification of his goggles once, and Izzy slammed down his laptop, quickly inputing data.

"Yeah, we've got real problems." Matt looked at the readout as Izzy spoke up."It's another village, and this time, they're under attack by a hole squadron of Raremon."

"Wonderful." Tentomon buzzed by Izzy's shoulder as the computer genius bent to his work."The last time I tangled with him, I stank like a trash can for days."

"What's happening out there?" Mimi asked, chekcing her surroundings.

"It's a walled village, so they're holding out, but the Raremon are just destroying everything in sight.If they aren't stopped soon, they're won't be much left worth saving." Izzy's voice accelerated, as it always did when he was talking about danger.

"So what's the plan?" Sora asked, checking to make sure her Digivice was clear.

"Tai?" Izzy asked, redirecting the question.

"There are only nine Raremon.If we hit them hard and fast, we can use our teamwork to turn the tide, right?"

"Hard and fast sounds good." Agumon responded."Let's get them, shall we?"

"Time to go guys!" Sora stood up.

Agumon…digivolves to…Greymon

Gabumon…digivolves to…Garurumon

Biyomon…digivolves to….Birdramon

Tentomon…digivolves to…Kabuterimon

Palmon…digivolves to…Togemon

Gomamon…digivolves to…Ikkakumon

"Let's get them!" Tai yelled.

Joe got his first glimpse of the scene as he swung up onto Ikkakumon's back, below his massive horn.He had learned the hard way not to ride to close to the launching platform for the mighty Harpoon Torpedo attack.The village was walled by a gray material that looked pretty tough, but the area around it was covered in trees and did not look very safe.Several acres were obviously recently destroyed.Beyond the village the ocean spread off to the horizon, sparkling blue and green as if in denial of the horrible scene at its shores.The nine Raremon, disgusting gray slugs, were sitting around, randomly shooting at things.From inside, an occasional blast of fire responded, but mostly the battle seemed to consist of the Raremon blasting everything they could blow up.

"Ikkakumon, let's see if we can't get those guys in the water.If what Izzy told me is true, they swim.If we can lead them away from the village…"

"I got you Joe."

"Good idea Joe." Tai shouted, raising a fist from his precarious perch on top of Greymon's head."Ikkakumon can swim better than anyone in the water.If you can lead them away from the village, we can ambush them when they come back."

"Harpoon Torpedo!" the first shot roared up and away, exploding all over the first Raremon.The massive Champion swung up, enraged at the explosion that wracked his sides, howling in rage at his adversary.At the same moment Biyomon and Kabuterimon swept in, unleashing fire on the wounded Champion.It evaporated in a flash of disintegrating digital data.

"All right!" Tai yelled.

"They appear to be weaker than our Champions.I think we can route them pretty easily." Izzy was speaking into his D3, his words echoing through their own devices.

"Let's get them!" Matt yelled.

"Head for the water Ikkakumon." Joe ordered, feeling the wind stream through his hair.As the massive Digimon entered the water, he jumped off his back, no mean feat for an object moving at that velocity.

But the Raremon refused to take the bait.Ikkakumon pummeled them, but they refused to follow him into the water.The other Champions circled around them, firing rapidly into them, shots of fire and electricity filling the air, but the Raremon were simply not responding.

Joe watched in utter horror as two Raremon expired in flashes of deletion.Another volley of Breath of Decays flashed out, but Garurumon and Greymon were already dodging.Izzy dodged their fire easily, hanging onto Kabuterimon's back with a smile on his face.Mimi was frowning at her opponents as Togemon moved into the field, boxing gloves held at the ready.Sora shouted at her flying companion as she continued blasting everything on the ground.

Joe frowned and looked up at Kabuterimon before grabbing his D3 and running toward the village.From the top of the wall a ladder was dropped, unrolling as it fell, and a handful of rookies climbed out, led by an Agumon.

"You guys got here right in time.I'm not sure how much more we could have held out before their reinforcements got here."

"Reinforcements?" Joe nearly screamed, opening a communication channel with Izzy."Izzy, we may have trouble."

"I know, those Raremon are hopelessly outmatched.Why are they just standing there?It makes no sense."

"The Digimon here say that there are reinforcements on the way."

"That might explain it.Kabuterimon, we have to finish this now!"

"I'm trying." The deep voice sounded aggravated as another set of Electro Shockers exploded along the ground with the force of giant anvils.The Raremon scattered back, but they were still there.The numbers were now in the favor of the good guys, as another Raremon bit the dust, but there were still five more, and sooner or later they would really be in trouble.

"Joe!" Ikkakumon's gruff voice broke through his reverie.Behind him he could see Ikkakumon looking down the beach, where something new had appeared.Light flashed off sharp blades as a new fighter swam through the shallow water at the seashore to attack, a very familiar Digimon.

"Scorpiomon." Joe's voice was flat, but he was thinking furiously.Izzy was still ahead of him.

"Bad news guys.Incoming Ultimate, and my laptop is registering new signatures, weak ones, sort of like Bakemon or Veggiemon, incoming from the land side.We can't fight all of them, we've got enough problems with the Raremon.We're going to need to get out of here."

Joe turned to the Agumon and some of the other Digimon who had clustered around."Can you guys run with us?"

"No." the Agumon looked into his eyes."We have a lot of injured Digimon and in-trainings running around.We can't go with you, we lack the strength.You are the Digidestined, we know, you can save this world.Escape without us."

"Nova Blast!"

Tai ran up."C'mon Joe, we have to go, right now.If we don't escape now, we won't be able to help anyone."

"No, we're not going!" Joe yelled, turning full fury on Tai."We're not leaving, not this time.Look at these Digimon, they need help."

"Go ahead, you're more important than us." The Agumon yelled.

"Shut up you!And you Tai!We have to help them!" Joe was yelling now.

Izzy, Sora, Matt and Mimi ran up while their Digimon continued fighting.

"Joe, we tried, but it's over." Matt told him quietly.

"We need to escape if we hope to ever overcome this evil." Izzy noted clinically.

"Shut up!What will they do to you?" he asked the Agumon standing there.

The Digimon met his gaze for a few moments before lowering his eyes."They'll kill us.We rebelled against Daemon.We're finished.But you don't have to be.Go, go now!"

"Meteor Wing!"

A blast of fire landed near another Raremon, but it fired back, and Birdramon quickly began to weave through the sky, evading the fire.

"Tai, we have to stay here.We have to fight."

"It's not going to work this time Joe.We have to try again." Sora was looking at him concerned.

"Come on Joe!We don't have the time to waste!" Mimi was yelling too.

"They're going to die guys." Joe's voice was level again.For the first time in a long time, everything started to make sense to him.

"Harpoon Torpedo!"A huge missile rose into the air plunging down at the Scorpiomon who was pouring his way across the sand.The blow hardly phased him.

"We're out of time Joe!" Tai shouted, watching the Ultimate creep closer.

"No Tai, it's time we woke up.We're the Digidestined, remember that?"

"Tail Blade!"A bolt of blue fire shot through the air and hammered into Ikkakumon.The massive, white-furred Digimon toppled over sideways, howling in pain, but valiantly trying to stay upright.

"The Digidestined.It's not something we can just ignore, some badge that we can just take off whenever we don't feel like doing the job.It's our job and we've got to do it.Sometimes life's full of things we don't like, but when you're the only person who can do it, you have to."

In the distance Ikkakumon howled again, and Joe could feel his heart sink even more, but it was clear, and so was the path he had to take.

"It's our responsibility Tai.It's what we have to do."

The others were looking at him strangely, their faces beginning to fade as if they were standing too near the sun, vanishing in a flare of light.Joe vaguely saw Izzy raise one hand and point at him.If he said anything, Joe didn't hear it, but he looked down and realized what Izzy had been pointing at.

On his chest, where his tag and crest had once hung, glowing with the pure white light of an ancient star, was the engraved cross-like symbol of the Crest of Reliability, flaming bravely against the darkness.Throwing back his head, Joe let the power explode out of him, watched it arc over the sea and strike its target.

Ikkakumon….Digivolves to….

The ocean reached up to swallow the white furred sea mammal, swirling around him, and then a bolt of lightning descended from the heavens, smashing downward, solidifying into a block of steel-gray metal in a gray hand.A huge creature rose upright from the waves, holding a massive hammer in once vast claw.

"Zudomon!"

"Hey Zudomon!Perfect timing.Time to go get him!"

"You got it Joe!" the massive Ultimate stalked toward Scorpiomon, who was now clearly having second thoughts.

"Tail Blade!"

Zudomon swung the massive metal hammer around in an arc, knocking the incoming blast of light out into the depths of the ocean.Scorpiomon began to back off, but suddenly circled as Zudomon began to stalk around him, forcing him up onto the beach.

"Flatten him Zudomon!" Mimi yelled.

"Everyone else, let's show those Raremon they can't mess with us!"

"Right!"

"Nova Blast!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Electro Shocker!"

"Howling Blaster!"

"Needle Spray!"

The Scorpiomon suddenly darted forward, trying to evade, but his land speed was slow.Zudomon brought his hammer down with all his might, smashing it into the massive scoripon's armored carapace like a bolt from the heavens.Scorpiomon staggered back, the shell on its back cracking under the stress that it had received.Without pause Zudomon swung his hammer back up.

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

This time, when the hammer descended a bolt of lightning exploded at the base to meet it, drowning the world in the fire of the righteous, and dousing Scoripomon in yellow undulating light.When the light show finally died down, the massive Ultimate Digimon was no more, only scattered dust remaining.

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

No Champion could take too many shots from an enraged Ultimate, and the Raremon were no exception.They exploded into digital dust as the combination of attacks slammed into their tightly packed group.

"Way to go pal." Joe whispered to his ally.

Zudomon was surrounded by a white glow before returning to the form of Gomamon.

"Now can we get out of here?" Izzy asked.

"So what's the story?" Tai asked after a while.

The leader of the village they had freed spoke up.She turned out to be a Togemon, carrying one arm in a sling due to the earlier battle.She spoke in a quiet voice.

"Daemon started taking over the Digital World a few months ago.He has expanded his control slowly, so slowly that none of the other creatures who try to communce with the Digital World, such as you humans, would ever notice.Ever since, he has increased his powers.Now a rumor has reached us that Digimon are beginning to struggle against this oppression, that they are starting to take the fight to him instead.We were some of them."

"I see." Izzy thought."With the help of other such Digimon, we could indeed increase our odds in our quest."

"Yeah, and what Joe did was totally awesome.If we can do that, we'll wipe the floor with those guys!" Tai interjected.

"Yeah.Joe's a really great guy.And a true hero now." Matt joined in, causing Joe to brush bright red.

"And if we can all get our crests to work, we'll have a huge advantage." Sora continued.

Joe continued to blush, but inside he was looking upward to the future.

_Will it be enough?_

_ _

Interlude – Courage 

I wear the emblem of Courage as my symbol, my salvation in battle, the trait upon which I call to battle the forces of evil, yet I barely only comprehend its true meaning.I do not live its true power.Some days I wonder why I deserve it.

I have never known excessive fear.Sure, I have had my experiences with fearing failure, with running away from horror, with trying to escape despair.I have shrunk back from overwhelming odds and at times felt the cold, clammy gasp of the last stand grip at my heart as my body prepares for the end.But I have always found my solace in the crushing impact as the lines of battle are drawn.There life is simple, the enemy clear cut, and it is a kind of solace, a sanctuary to protect me from my fears.Courage is what I have, it is the code by which I enter battle, but that is only because I lack fear of those things.

Justice is perhaps the oddest of us all.He is a poet of sorts, and his verse has always impressed me with its quality.He is a peaceful sort of person, who strikes me as being perfectly at home drinking coffee or hot chocolate in some backcountry house, admiring the scenery around him.His art is that of the peaceful brook, the gently blowing wind and the scent of the trees and the crisp air that enchants him.

He is also a scientist, a researcher.For him the world is a mystical place, and he seeks to understand it to its entirety.I could see him living in an underground laboratory forever.I can also see him as a novelist or a literature professor, lying in bed or sitting in a plush armchair somewhere under the light of a lazy summer sun, enjoying his latest work, waiting for time to pass him by.I could see him teaching history somewhere, letting the sand and dirt of ages pour over his shoulders and bury him.

But he is, by necessity none of those things.

"This is _Marlborough_, third squadron standing by."

"_Pericles_ here, second squadron standing by."

"_Trajan_, first squadron is in position and awaiting orders."

I know that on his desk, in his private cabin, there lies a piece that he has started writing.I only remember a single piece of it.

We do what we must, and it is by that doing that we are damned.

He knows, in a way, what will happen.I know he knows.And I know the fear he has of it. 

"_Falkenburg_ here, assault four standing by."

"_Prince of Wales_ reporting assault three at standby."

"This is _Salamanca_, all units of assault two ready to go."

"_Bannockburn_ at go status, assault one in position."

"_Siegfried_ here, sacrificial sheep powered up and in position."

Because I know that what he hates the most, what he fears the most, is killing.He hates causing death, he hates inflicting it on others.He hates it with a passion that has destroyed lesser souls in the crash of the psyche.He hates it with a passion.For him, it is an anathema, a rejection of everything he holds dear and beautiful about the world, a denial of life as he knows it.For him, death is an old enemy, someone who should be denied even the leanest amount of work.And in his heart, he rages at the fact that he is about to do it again.

I turn to look at him, standing calm and composed on the rear of the bridge.

"Justice, we have confirmation. Fourth Wing is in position."

"Very good." His voice betrays not a single tremor, but he is well practiced.He lets the words roll of his tongue with a crispness that you could use to make origami.

"Ordinance?"

"Resupply on standby."

"Ground Control?"

"Standing by to execute stage two sir."

"Gunnery?"

"Give us targets, we'll give you a body count sir."

"Operations?"

"All detachable units at plus 15 sir.Best we can do."

"Understood.Tactical?"

"Ready as we'll ever be."

"Very good people."

I can feel him draw himself up, brace himself inside.And then _it_ comes, the symbol of dread we had been waiting for.A mere whisper of communication, a simple, almost invisible message that would condemn so many to death.

"Sir," for a moment the words threaten to choke me, but I continue anyway."_Philip_ _Augustus_ reports all ready."

That was it, everyone knew, and now it came down to him.The Dark had to know we were coming, and due to the constrained nature of the transit lines, they had to know where.They were not prepared, but even with what little time we had given them, there defensive advantage would assure that the forward elements would take a terrific pounding as they transited.

And Justice knew.His skill with tactics and strategy, unexpected and unlooked for, had made him the Light's Sword, the commander of armies dedicated to saving worlds, but it had also given him a burden that he could not pass off.And he had long ago learned the first lesson of strategy, the first rule of tactics. No matter how hard you try, no matter how well you plan, people will die achieving your objectives.And you can do nothing, you must direct the battle, remain apart from the action, and watch them die, to do the greatest good.And somewhere inside him some part of his soul raged in incandescent impotent fury against the sheer _unfairness_ of it all, screaming his anger to the uncaring stars.But that was a small voice now, and the tears that he would later let spill down his cheeks were locked behind a dam that no mere explosion would ever breach.

Now, it came down on his shoulders.The responsibility to lead his people into war.Would he take it, could he shoulder that dreadful burden?His fears must be screaming at them, but his voice is calm.

"Acknowledged."

I can see the sweat start to form at the edge of his hair.And in my mind, the words of Tennyson roll through my thoughts, echoing like the thunder of mighty cannons_.Half a league, half a league, half a league onward_.

His voice is still calm, and if there is a tremor in it, nobody notices."Commander, initiate Trafalger two."

"Aye aye sir." Some part of my mind wonders at his calm demeanor in the face of what he must be feeling, but that part is suppressed by the passage of long years of experience."Trafalger two is go."

And then I can see him whisper.No sound comes out, but his lips move, framing the words carefully.A prayer perhaps, a last benediction on the way to death?But I knew those words, as I knew him.

They stood, engraved in brass in the plaque on the rear of the bridge.He had often questioned their historical accuracy, but now they were more famous than they had any right to be, engraved in the minds of a dozen generations.They gleamed, below the sign that gave mighty _Leonidas_ its illustrious name.Or rather, _Leonidas IV_.Three other ships bearing the same name had been shot out from under Justice's feet as he directed battles across the worlds, yet this one had still demanded the ancient right of carrying the Flag into battle.And around Justice the crew who had volunteered for that duty walked with a pride in themselves and their ship that no one else could match.

_Stranger, go, and to the listening Spartans tell, that here, obedient to their laws, we fell._

Because they knew.They knew that he was the best, that with that responsibility of their lives that weighed so heavily on his shoulders would prevent him from doing everything except trying their hardest.Everywhere they knew that he would only spend their lives in the gravest emergency, in the greatest emergency, and it was their calling, their highest honor to give lives for that sacred cause.And now, their trust settled down on the only one who could have planned and directed their ultimate victory, and they knew that they were watched over by a faithful and fierce protector.

And Justice looked up, into his fears of death, into his terror of being responsible for others' demise and fired his first salvo in his war against fear, his voice echoing in the face of the nameless nightmare like a fusillade of cannons in an enclosed valley.

"All units, this is the Flag!Fourth Wing will advance!"

Ahead of us the shape of the _Iron Duke_ vanished in a flare of light as it disappeared from this world and reappeared in another, in the midst of battle.Next the _Petain_ disappeared in a flash of light, and then the massive bulk of the _Tso_.Ahead of us, the _William of Orange_ snapped out of existence.

And then, with its commander's jaw tight and his eyes defiant in the face of his worst nightmare come to life, the _Leonidas_ accelerated out of one world and into the gaping jaws of hell.

Historical Note:Just for reference, the line from the _Leonidas_ is one of the epitaphs attributed to the three hundred Spartans who died at Thermopylae.You can look up that data for yourself.Philip II Augustus was a king of France, a contemporary of Richard the Lion-Hearted, Pericles an Athenian statesman, Trajan a Roman Emperor, Salamanca a battle fought by the Duke of Wellington against the forces of Napoleon in Spain.Bannockburn was where Robert the Bruce defeated the English, Siegfried is the character from the Ring of the Niebelung operas and Norse legend, Prince of Wales is the title of the heir to the English throne and the Duke of Marlborough was one of England's greatest field commanders.Tso Tsung-t'ang was a Manchu general and administrator, William of Orange a famous Dutch leader, Marshal Petain one of France's better generals in WWI, and the Iron Duke the British flagship in the battle of Jutland.The Tennyson poem is, of course, The Charge of the Light Brigade.The Falkenburg is a tribute to John Christian Falkenburg III, the literary creation of Jerry Pournelle.Second disclaimer:I do not own the rights to John Christian Falkenburg III.

Author's Note: Okay, I can't write endings.So sue me.I'll try and get some more done soon.


	6. The Emperor's Fall

Disclaimer:  I don't own Digimon.

Author's Note:  I know that this took a long time to create, and it wasn't just because of FFN.net.  I've also been really busy, and writing these long things takes a lot of work.  Sorry to those who are interested (thanks for the reviews btw), but it's going to take a long time to write this one.

Secondary Note:  I wanted to write this like a real season (just to see if I could), so for a while it may be a little predictable.  Please bear with me.

Tertiary Note:  I hopefully fixed the HTML tags on this version

Episode VI

The Emperor's Fall

                Joe's voiceover:  I was having some doubts about whether I was ready, but I've found that I'm indispensible to the team.  Without me around, who would keep them out of trouble?  And when the trouble turned into Scoripomon, my sense of responsibility ignited, revitalizing my crest and allowing Ikkakumon to digivolve to Zudomon.

             "So, are you afraid of dying?" the figure was more menacing than ever, his grip perilously loose.

            "Yes!" TK screamed.

            "Can you have Hope?"

            "How can I when you're doing this to me?"

            The man shrugged and let go, watching as TK plunged downward toward the bottom of the mountain.

            TK woke up sweating, but he was getting used to this.  It was already morning.  The sunlight trickled through the windows around him, illuminating a few stray locks of hair as he sat on his comfortable mattress.  In the background he could smell someone cooking, and whatever it was smelled good.

            Carefully he placed Patamon, who was curled up in a bundle next to him, back under the blanket, and got dressed before going out to see who was out in the kitchen.

            Ken stood in the kitchen, absently using a spatula to move around some eggs that were frying in the pan.  He had already cut some bread off to the side, and he had set the table with a number of white plates.

            "Good morning Ken, what're you doing?"

            Ken blinked, as if he was surprised to find someone else in the kitchen, and then turned around to look at the doorway.  "Hey TK!  Up early?"

            "Couldn't sleep.  Nightmare.  How about you?"

            "Ah." Ken detected something odd in TK's voice and decidedly not to pursue the question.  "I had one too, but it turned out…odd.  I thought I might as well get up and get breakfast started."

            "Where's Babamon?"

            "I saw her when we woke up.  She told me that she had to go, and that she would see us again soon.  She also said that we could take or use anything in this house, so I thought I might as well make breakfast."

            "Huh, that's odd." TK thumbed his chin.  "I wonder where she's headed."

            "Search me.  All I know is that she disappeared right after that.  I found a lot of stuff in the fridge, so I decided that we might as well use it."

            "Good idea.  Need any help?"

            "Sure, I think there's some ham around here somewhere you can cook."

            As the others began to stumble out into the kitchen, TK and Ken managed to finish cooking a whole bowlful of eggs and several plates worth of ham and bacon.  Yolei pronounced the spread as "gorgeous".  Davis and Veemon did not even bother commenting, they just dug right in.  Laughing, everyone else joined them.

            "So, now what?" Gatomon asked once everyone, human and Digimon, had taken the edge off their hunger.

            "I suppose we get moving again.  After all, we've got a crest now…and maybe we can find some more." TK smiled at Davis.

            "That's right, and once we have them, Veemon will be able to Digivolve…right buddy?"

            "Right." Veemon struck a pose that he must have seen on television wrestling.

            "I guess we can't stay here.  I mean, sooner or later Reaver's going to figure out where we went." Cody noted, drinking a little out of his glass of water.

            "Sure thing." Armadillomon rolled up so his head was at Cody's eye height.  "And we don't want him to find us here, do we?"

            "Okay then, I have a great plan!" Davis suggested.  "Let's go back down that other road that we didn't take yesterday.  I have a good feeling about that one."

            "I like it too." Yolei spoke up.  "But first, let's break up and see if there's anything that we can take from the house."

            Half an hour later, bags bursting with all sorts of useful stuff, Davis led the others out of the house and back into the wilderness.

            "Just a few more hours Joe." Gomamon murmured as he rolled over.

            Joe stood back and laughed.  "If anyone ever deserved it, it's you old buddy, but we can't give it to you.  Up and at 'em."

            Gomamon groaned.

            "C'mon, let's see a little get up and Gomamon." Joe laughed down at his slumbering partner.

            Gomamon rolled on his side and cracked one eye at his human partner.  "Now who's making bad jokes?"

            Tai, looking semi-awake, grunted a few times and then walked over to clap Joe on the shoulder.  "I know that I didn't get a chance to really tell you last night, but you were right.  And I think that your heart knew that there was a way to win.  Thanks Joe, you're the greatest."

            "Yeah, what a man." Mimi exclaimed.

            Joe flushed bright red at the old joke.

            "That Togemon told us that we should sneak through the forests on our way to the Pinnacle.  It would be best if we did it in the early morning when it's darker and harder to see us." Gabumon appeared around a tree stump, carrying a plate of baked fish in his hands.  "Matt wants you guys to try this.  He says it's a new recipe."

            "Thanks Gabumon." Joe took the rough plate of tree bark from Gabumon's paws, placing it down beside Gomamon.  "Are you sure you won't get up.  I'd hate to have to eat this all by myself."

            Gomamon's eye opened again and he examined the fish.  "I certainly must admit that I'm considering it Joe."

            "I've re-evaluated our situation several times, and I must admit that I am extremely pleased at the increase in the probability of our success." Izzy hove into view, carrying his laptop in one hand, the ever attentive Tentomon hovering over his shoulder.  He was hitting buttons on the screen with his free hand, his eyes fixed firmly on the screen.  "I would say that with Gomamon's ability to digivolve into Ultimate, our combat capabilities are dramatically increased.  Furthermore, the possibility that others can reactivate their crest in much the same way is now very real."

            "That's great Izzy." Sora came over from the direction of the fire with Biyomon trotting behind her.  "I'm glad that we seem to have a better chance."

            "Anyway, as soon as you and hero-boy down there finish eating, we'll be on our way." Tai concluded.

            "Sounds good to me." Joe replied.  "Hey Gomamon, save some of that for me!"

            "How come I have to walk?"  Veemon looked tired.  "When Patamon always rides?"

            "'Cause you need the exercise to stay a lean fighting machine.  Besides, I don't have a hat you can ride on." Davis responded quickly.  He had learned that the best way out of a bad situation was to flatter his partner exuberantly.

            "I guess so." Veemon replied, looking upward.

            Patamon, who had heard the whole conversation, elected not to respond.  

            TK walked up next to Ken and tapped him on the shoulder.  The dark-haired genius was so busy thinking about something else that he did not even notice until TK tapped him again.

            "Huh, what?  Oh, hey TK."

            "Hey yourself Ken, so what're you thinking about?"

            Ken shrugged.  "Oh, nothing."

            "Nothing my eye.  You'll have to do better than that Ken."

            "I'm just thinking about something.  Really I am."

            TK shook his head, almost knocking Patamon off.  "Ken, that may work on your parents, it may work on Davis and it may work on Cody, but it's not going to work on the rest of us.  I have a big brother you know, a brother who is a Digidestined.  I've watched him beat himself up for a number of reasons, several of which were fabrications of his own imagination.  I know the signs, and so do Yolei and Kari.  So what's up?"

            "I was just thinking about evil." Ken sounded uncomfortable.  TK looked around and saw that Yolei, Kari and Cody were all bunched up behind them.  He made eye contact with Kari and nodded once.  Kari looked into his eyes, looked at Ken, and nodded back, a gleam of understanding in her eyes.  Quietly she gestured Cody and Yolei to slow their pace, leaving a large space between the different Digidestined, with Ken and TK in the middle.

            "What about?"

            "About the evil that used to be inside of me…"

            "That old one again.  You know we trust you, and you know that you'll never do anything like that." TK patted Ken comfortingly on the back while Wormmon looked on supportively.

            "It's not that." Ken sighed.  "I know that I'm not evil anymore, but the problem is worse than that.  You see, I wonder if the fact that I was evil robbed me of some of the things that it meant to be good."

            "Huh, what do you mean?"

            "I wonder.  You guys are all so full of love, and friendship and courage.  I stand up to evil when I'm angry, but I don't know if I have it in me to use the rest of those traits.  I'm kind to people, that's my crest, but somehow it seems almost empty.  Like I was doing it out of instinct and not because it really meant anything to me."

            "That's crazy Ken."

            "Really, look at those others whose evil turned to good.  BlackWarGreymon was not truly evil, just confused.  Oikawa, in a moment of weakness, let a much greater evil posses him.  And to get back to good look at the price they had to pay.  Both of them died to do that."

            TK sighed, and walked silently for a moment before lifting his eyes to meet Ken's.  "Ken, there are some questions I can't answer.  That's because I don't know how.  The ones you should really talk to are Yolei and Cody."

            "Huh, why them?" Ken looked up, startled.

            TK looked back and Ken could see the change.  This was not TK, basketball star, or TK, student, or even TK the friend.  This was Takeru, Digidestined, bearer of Hope.  "Cody because of all of us he was the one who took the longest to forgive you fully.  And because he would have had to have seen the most profound truth to do so.  And Yolei because she knows you better than you think, and because she believes in you strongly."

            Ken looked at him, and felt something inside him spark in recognition of what he saw there.  And then, very quietly, he nodded.

            "Good.  Now let's worry about something else, like getting killed."

            "Everybody duck!" Cody yelled, looking over his shoulder.

            There was a moment of hesitation and then twelve bodies hurled themselves off of the small trail they had been following, into the thick green of the surrounding brush.  Davis throttled a curse as it threatened to break out of his throat as he went straight through the hedge-like barrier.  Branches and twigs tore at his jacket, but he made it through intact and onto the ground in much the same way.  Still trying to ignore the smarting in his arm, he tilted his head up to see what had startled Cody so.

            Above them there was a sudden buzz and the yellow shape of a Flymon in flight buzzed overhead, filling the air with a  peculiar sound, almost as if the air was vibrating in place.  The flash of color was enough to warn Davis of what was going on.

            "Good eyes Cody." TK whispered.

            "Thanks TK." Cody was still watching the sky nervously.

            "I wonder if he's seen us?" Davis wondered absently, still staring at the sky.

            There was another sound, this time a dreadful roar.  The Flymon came back again, flashes of yellow color appearing in the air above the bushes in which they were hiding, but this time the roar seemed to have more purpose than before.  It grew steadily, exponentially louder and, after a split second, Davis realized that they had probably been seen.  Everyone else made a similar connection at the same moment, and quickly they started creeping backwards, where a ditch provided deeper cover and thicker bushes.

            "Brown Stingers!"

            Bright red stingers longer than Davis' arm slammed into the ground, sending dirt flying as they embedded themselves halfway down.  Davis' eyes widened at their proximity, and he already knew what those deadly projectiles could do to unprotected human flesh.  Jerking around, his heart sunk as another flash of yellow, and another, appeared overhead.  The buzzing sound grew until it was roaring back and forth in his ears, nearly deafening him.

            "Come on, their whole army must have found us!" TK shouted, running past them.

            "Everybody!  Run!" Davis shouted unnecessarily, scampering over the uneven terrain looking for a way out.

            They had been hiking about halfway up a hillside, sticking to areas of thicker cover in order to keep themselves hidden from just such an attack.  Now, they scrambled desperately up the hill as a series of incoming projectiles struck closer and closer to home, following them in a trail of red stingers, like the footprints of some unholy beast of prey.  Grass twisted in their wake, and they topped the hill only to find themselves looking at a pile of rocks.  The pile looked like a deformed mountain, a collection of granite slabs running up and down a section of the hillside, marking place like some temple erected by nature herself.  But whatever they were, their presence had thinned the soil, and they were now the only cover available.

            Davis looked around quickly, reaching for his D3 when TK suddenly pointed.  

            "Look, a cave!  Everybody inside!"

            Everybody turned and, sure enough, there was a huge gaping crack in the wall.  TK reached it first and headed in, followed closely by Kari, and then by Davis with Veemon behind him.

            Ken struggled up behind him, watching out for Cody and Yolei who were still behind him.  There was a moment as the dark gap loomed before him, inviting in its careful darkness, its concealing nature.  Then a red stinger shot out of the air and slammed into the archway, burying itself above the crack.  With a sudden roar the rock around the doorway fell down, hiding the entrance in stone.  For a moment he stared at the unyielding surface and cursed himself for not being faster, wanting to pound on the barrier that now separated him from safety.  Cody's voice brought him out of his trance.

            "Over here!" the shortest Digidestined pointed at a hole in the wall directly across from Ken, another crack of the same type.  Armadillomon jumped through first, followed by Cody, then Yolei and Hawkmon, and then, as another salvo roared in and began to collapse that entrance too, Ken and Wormmon.

            "So they've escaped another trap.  No matter, they won't get far.  Far enough that is."  Reaver muttered to himself as the Flymon broke off their now useless attack.

            Ken flipped over on his side.  He fumbled for a moment in the darkness, fingers searching his belt, and then he finally came up with his laser pointer, which he had carelessly stuck there.  Using his thumb, he flipped the thing on, illuminating the cavern somewhat with a faint red light.  Unfortunately, it was too much of a laser to spread light in a way even remotely helpful for him.  Fortunately, using that light, Yolei was able to pick around in her backpack until she found what she was looking for, her pen/flashlight, and then she turned it on, bathing them in a sudden influx of white light.

            "Okay, we're all still intact.  Now what?" Cody asked.

            "I don't know, I'm worried about the others…" Ken let his voice trailed off.

            "It's okay Ken.  I'm sure they're safe." Wormmon responded after a long moment.

            Ken thought for a moment, concentration creasing his brow, when suddenly he shot upright.  "Of course, I still have the scanner!"

            He rummaged around in his bag for a few moments before coming up with the flat shape of the critical item.  Quickly he opened it up, its light illuminating the small dark space.  Around them he could now see the shape of smooth boulders and other rocks closing in on them, but he ignored them.  After a few seconds of start up the familiar map screen opened up, displaying a detail map of the cavern.

            "Well, that's helpful." Yolei noted sarcastically, but Ken was already zooming out.  After a moment, he could see several different caves, and in one of them, there was a set of six white dots appeared.  Ken touched them hurriedly, and a new screen opened up, listing their six missing companions in full detail.

            "Whew.  They're all unhurt and all right." Ken pressed the button labeled COMM and there were a few clicks.  They broke off when the screen flashed, and a small window, like a videophone, displayed an image of a bunch of rocks faintly illuminated by light.  From them they could hear a voice.

            "Guys." It was Kari.  "My Digivice just went off, just a moment while I…" her face appeared on the screen and her eyes widened in amazement.  "Ken, Yolei, Cody!"

            "We're all safe and sound.  You?" Ken asked tensely.

            "Oh, we're just fine.  We were arguing over what to do.  Any suggestions?"

            "According to the scanner we might be all right if we keep going downward.  There are many caves and ours might meet up with yours somewhere.  I don't think that we want to go back up to the surface, even if we could."

            "That's what we'll do!" Davis' voice interrupted, sounding small, in the background, and Yolei giggled.

            The scanner beeped under Ken's fingers, displaying a quick message:

            WARNING: Proximity of enemy units increasing.

            Probability of successful triangulation on this unit: 37%

            "Uh, Kari, just head downward and see if we can meet up.  The scanner just warned me that we stand a chance of being detected.  Okay?"

            "Gotcha."

            "Right." Ken hit the END TRANSMISSION button hurriedly, and then hit the buttons that followed until the scanner was in what it called "Stealth Mode".  Unfortunately, that meant that he could barely determine which tunnel they were in, let alone what channel his friends were in.  Acting on a memory of probing the computer, he opened the DISPLAY menu and hit a few more option switches.  The monitor blanked for a moment before flaring up, lighting their way much more effectively than the flashlight had.

            "Okay." Yolei stood up, turning off the flashlight.  "So we just head downward, right guys?"

            "I guess.  Although my feathers tend to crawl if I'm underground too long." Hawkmon shivered dramatically.

            "Well, I'm glad I'm at home underground.  You ready Cody?"

            "Of course Armadillomon.  It looks like I don't have another choice, doesn't it?"

            "I'm with you Ken." Wormmon looked up.

            "Well, let's get going." Ken shrugged after a moment, looking at the darkness.

            Fortunately they did not have much of a choice of where to come out.  The caves were dark, but they were also straight.  There were no branching corridors to explore, no different tunnels that they could opt to follow until they arrived at whatever destination they would arrive at.  On the other hand, there were few pitfalls.  Mostly it was walking through the darkness, which held its own terrors.  In the distance one could hear the steady dripping as water rippled downward, echoing through the caverns in a way that made everybody shiver.  In a way it sounded as if there were lost miners down there, frantically searching for a way up into daylight.  Here and there they ran across dark bodies of water, small by above-ground standards, but in the darkness looking as vast as oceans, and as black as oil.  The first time Wormmon got near one, he swore that he saw a giant fish in the water, and everyone else avoided them afterwards, minds creeping with the horrors that would live in the roots of the mountains, avoiding the daylight.  Here, down in the bowels of the Earth, it was easy to forget that above there were such things as the sun, that there were stars in the night.  Here there was only the echoing blackness, and in it, the echo of your worst fears.  At first they spoke often, but the oppressive blackness began to lay thick upon them like a huge blanket of silence until they stopped trying to disturb its sovereignty over this dark place.

            "Uh, Ken?"

            "What is it Cody?"

            "I don't mean to interfere, but I think that Wormmon's getting exhausted.  After all, he has really short legs.  And I don't think the rest of us are doing well either.  Can we take a rest?"

            "Of course we can Cody." Ken stopped suddenly, mentally smacking himself as the light from the Scanner illuminated their exhaustion.  Inside he wondered if the fact that he had ignored them was do to the strain of being in the lead, or if he was such a stranger to Kindness that he did not know when to exhibit it.  For a moment the blackness of the cave was eclipsed by his feeling of emptiness inside.

            They sat down, illuminated faintly by the light of the Scanner, sitting on the most comfortable rocks they could find in that forbidding blackness.  Ken thought about his doubts and suspicions, and, after a moment, decided to voice them.  He opened his mouth, only to have it dry out on him before he could say anything.  Quickly, he tried to moisten his lips, only to have them dry on him again, and he had to cough to clear his throat.

            "What is it Ken?" Yolei asked, shape indistinct in the darkness.

            "Is something wrong?" Wormmon asked, hugging Ken's leg close.

            "Uh guys…" Ken paused again in an attempt to clear his thoughts.  _Here it goes_.  "I wanted to ask you something because you're my friends and I know I can trust you to answer me right, okay?"

            "Sure Ken." Cody looked confused, at least as much as he could when his face was virtually invisible.

            "Is it possible to discover all of the light if you were lost to the darkness once?"

            There was a moment of uncomfortable pause before Yolei asked quietly, gently, "What do you mean?"

            "I was just…thinking.  When I was the Digimon emperor something inside of me died.  I know now that what I did was wrong, and I don't want to beat myself up about it again, but now I start to wonder.  Somewhere inside of me the evil from the dark spore still survives, permeating my very being.  I can feel the call of darkness, calling me to come serve it, come reap its rewards."

            "You can fight against that Ken.  You always could." Wormmon stood up for him.

            "I know old friend, I know, but it's not that.  I know that I can deny that call as long as I don't give up, but I'm wondering if that evil poisoned me?"

            "How so?" Yolei asked, still sounding quiet and subdued.

            "I think that the evil is still there, in my blood, poisoning my life.  And I think that it's horrible.  I mean, look at me.  In all my life, ever since Osamu died, I don't think I've ever truly understood those things that make us special.  I feel something for my parents, but I don't know if it's love, like the rest of you feel.  I don't know if my friendship is deep enough to save us, or if my courage is enough to stand up to that evil inside.  I wonder if I lost something to the evil of the dark spore, something so powerful that once it's gone, it can never be replaced.  I just don't know if I have that stuff that's inside the rest of you that makes us Digidestined."

            There was another moment of awkward silence as the words echoed off the close arrayed walls of the cave into some distant infinity before another voice answered.

            "I always wondered how long it would take before someone learned that I was a fraud." Everyone started because the voice was Yolei's, and it sounded like she was about to start crying.  "Before they realized that I didn't really deserve to be a Digidestined like the rest of them.  Before they understood that I was nothing, a mere accident, and should be treated as such."

            "Huh?" asked Cody.

            "May I inquire into just what is going on?" Hawkmon sounded astonished.

            "Yolei, what are you talking about?" Ken shouted, regretting it instantly as the echoes bounced off the darkened walls for what sounded like miles.

            But even in the dim light she refused to meet his eyes.  "Because I'm a fake Ken.  A lousy fake.  We had an entire world to save, millions of innocents depending on us, and I was more interested in boys than I was in my job.  I was stubborn because I was unwilling to give up, and that kept me going on, but I always wondered if I deserved to be a Digidestined because of who I was.  Because inside I knew that I didn't have what it took.  That I was too interested in dating and in fashion and in how I looked to really worry about what was going on in my world.  And it haunted me sometimes, I mean, here we are, trying to save the world from the latest scheme of the bad guys, and I'm worried about how I look, or fighting with Davis for no reason.  I knew the truth then, I don't deserve to be a Digidestined."

            "Yolei, you can't…"

            "I can too Ken.  Look at Cody, he's always fought the good fight because he knows that someone has to, and because he believes in what we're doing.  Look at TK and Kari and the older kids, who understand what's at stake and are doing their best to save both worlds, even if they can't do what we can do.  Look at Davis, who is so stubborn that he can't give up in the face of evil.  And look at yourself, who is so determined to keep anyone from sharing your fate.  Compared to that, how can I be considered a Digidestined Ken?  Look at them."

            "I am looking." Ken's voice was gentle, and his hand extended slowly to rest on her shoulder in the gloom.  "I am looking, and that's why I believe in you.  Maybe you have flaws, but you've fought against them, haven't you.  I mean, nobody who truly didn't want to fight would ever have allowed themselves to end up fighting against MaloMyostimon, would they?  And nobody who didn't believe in themselves could ever have done what you did, could they?  We're a team, and there's nothing that ever fought against you that you couldn't handle.  And you're ready for the next challenge, whether you admit it or not."

            "You may have made mistakes," Hawkmon's voice was, as ever, calm and unruffled, "but you learned from them.  And you tried not to repeat them.  And in the end, when the crunch started and the battle truly began you tried to do your best to help us save the world, didn't you?"

            "Because that's what being a Digidestined is all about." Cody started talking now.  "At the beginning, I wasn't really certain of what I was doing.  And I hesitated a lot.  I understand now that what I did turned out for the best, but it might have resulted in the loss of thousands of lives.  I was upset to no end when Shakkuomon destroyed MarineDevimon, but he was only trying to save my life and the life of everyone still in the hospital.  I learned that sometimes we have to do those things that we don't want to do.  And that the important thing is to hang onto our optimism even as we do them.

            "After all, at the beginning, I was the one who wasn't focused, right?  I really didn't want to fight, and even though the Emperor made me angry, for some reason what we did there just didn't seem as important as the real world.  But I learned too.

            "And that's what all this is about.  Being one of us is mostly learning how to be one of us.  Neither you or Ken has anything to worry about now.  Sure you may have made some mistakes in the past, but you everyone on the team has, and you only have to pay the price as long as you think you have to." Armadillomon's country accent made Yolei smile, drying some of her tears.

            "And that's that Yolei.  You're valuable and we need you.  And I guess that answers my problem.  I make my own worth, don't I?"

            "Yeah Ken, you do.  Together we can do anything." Cody was clearly grinning in the darkness.

            "Thanks guys." Yolei sniffed, but it was the sniff that signified the vanishing of tears.  "I don't know what I would do without you."

            "Heaven forbid, you might have to cook…" Hawkmon mumbled.

            "What?!" Yolei nearly shouted while trying not to laugh.

            "He's right you know.  Last time I was at your house, I tried the lasagna you tried to make.  I know that tomatoes can be hard to find, but red chili peppers are just not the same thing you know." Cody was now grinning in Yolei's direction.

            "I'm sorry.  How was I supposed to know?"

            "You could have tasted them."

            "See Yolei." Ken laughed.  "We're in this together.  And if you think your cooking is bad, wait until you get to watch me try and clean a bathroom."

            "One day genius." She wagged a finger under Ken's nose, or as near as she dared get in the darkness.  Her voice sounded dark and threatening, but the hint of tears was completely gone.  "One day, you'll get yours.  Oh, I'll be so happy."

            Ken just grinned.  "Thanks guys.  I owe you one."

            "Watch out, I might just collect." Cody taunted him.

            "Owe us one what?  Will it be something we can eat?" Armadillomon asked.

            Kari sighed.  TK and Davis were fighting again.  They were not doing it over anything important, or anything actually worthwhile, but they were going at it quite seriously.  It seemed to be their preferred method of overcoming the oppressive silence that surrounded them, attempting to negate its effects.  As a result she did not have to listen to the spooky drips of falling water, or the tinkle and tumble of small dropping rocks, but to the constant low mutter of two arguing boys, and a variety of expressed opinions on everything from science to sports.  The low muttering was randomly interspersed with cries of "What?", "Are you out of your mind?", "Do you even know what that word means?" and "Did you hit your head on something?".  She knew why they were doing it, and she was rather glad they were.

            "We've got a problem." that was TK, in front, stopping.

            "What?" Davis demanded.

            "No, not a problem with the soccer field.  I mean that there are two different ways we can go."

            "Oh, well that can't be too much of a problem."

            "Really, and how do we deal with it?"

            Kari came up behind them.  "I remember Ken telling us that we had to go downward, to see if we could join up with them.  Let's try that a while.  Which path goes further down?"

            "This one." Gatomon pointed.

            "All right, follow her."

            "I hear something." Hawkmon's sudden exclamation stopped the group in its tracks.

            "Where?" Ken asked.

            "What?" Yolei asked.

            "The answers are: down the tunnel, and I don't know."

            There was a faint noise that touched on the edges of Ken's hearing.  It was a faint sound, much like the crack of broken branches.  As he concentrated other sounds began to emerge from the mist of darkness surrounding them.  Sounds like the continued cranking of rusty gears, or the faint whirring of some kind of belt.  Noises that Ken associated with industry.

            "Right guys.  I think we have a problem."

            "What kind of problem Ken?" Wormmon poked his head up curiously.

            "Something's up there, and it sounds industrial.  I don't want to use the Scanner because it has already given us hints that it can be detected, so we don't have the faintest idea what we're walking into.  But, given how this whole world seems to be under the control of Khartan, I would have to assume that it's his operation.  So we'll have to proceed quietly."

            "Can't we go around it?" Cody asked, absently scratching Armadillomon.

            "No Cody, we can't.  The cave seems to be very regular, and it has no side passages.  I'm afraid we're stuck, unless you can think up something."

            As Cody shook his head, Ken looked around.  He was right, the cave appeared to proceed straight down into the depths of the earth.  Just as a test he turned off the Scanner, removing their light.  Sure enough, the cave in the direction that the sound was coming from was faintly illuminated, and soon their eyes adjusted to the gloom.  The light was a strange orange, and it barely illuminated enough to see, but it was definitely there, and Ken strained his eyes to see what was ahead.  Unfortunately all he could see was an inconvenient corner further up the passage blocking his sight.  Quietly, he started to creep forward, leading the others on behind him.

            As he peered around the corner, he muffled a curse.  The cave opened very far back in a huge cavern.  The reason that the cavern was so huge was quickly revealed in the now bright orange lighting.  Everywhere Digimon scrambled, most of them rookies, but there were a few in-training here and there, scurrying here and there.  Normally this would have not bothered Ken, but every Digimon there was wearing something else, something that looked exactly like his Dark Rings.  They were acting quickly to dig out the cavern, wielding what looked like mining equipment as they rushed too and fro, eyes glowing red.  Here and there loomed more dangerous looking Digimon, not wearing the rings.  They were making the cracking noises with the whips they were carrying.

            "What's going on?" Cody asked.  The disadvantage of being shorter was that he was counting on Ken and Yolei to tell him what was going on.  Right now he sounded curious instead of frightened.

            "It looks like a slave labor operation or something.  Right Ken?  Ken?  Are you all right?"

            Ken was shaking in rage, his teeth bared and his face pale.  His eyes were dangerously sharp and focused, and he looked truly angry.  One hand was shaking slightly, trembling as the muscles controlling it underwent spasms of their own in an attempt to slow him down.  Teeth began to grate together for a moment.  Then, with a visible effort he pulled himself together, concentrating again.  His voice, when it emerged, cut like a saw.

            "My Dark Rings!" he grated, like a drill cutting stone.  "They're using my Dark Rings." One fist slammed into the dirt.  "How could they use what I did for more evil.  How could I have let them."

            "I don't think they're yours Ken.  You never seemed to really understand them.  Perhaps this is where the Dark Spore got them from.  Please calm down Ken, being angry does us no good." Wormmon tried to reason with his enraged companion.

            "Besides Ken, now we have to ask the real question.  Now that they're using them, what are we going to do about it?" Yolei looked over, pushing her glasses up further on her nose unconsciously.

            "We stop them." Ken's voice was flat and decisive.

            "How do we do that?  Maybe we should just leave them alone." Armadillomon suggested.

            "No.  This is personal." Ken left no room for disagreement.

            "All right, if it means that much to you, we do this together." Yolei stated.  "Right guys?"

            "Right." Everybody chorused.

            "Thanks everybody, for sticking with me.  Wormmon, who's the guy in the middle who looks like a floating trash can?"

            "It is a floating trash can.  Meet Garbagemon, an apt name for a disgusting Digimon.  He may look like he's just a smelly version of his namesake, but he'll take you by surprise if you do.  He is an Ultimate, although it doesn't really show.  Just stay clear of him Ken."

            "Most of the other guards look like Bakemon.  Hmm…we can handle them no problem, I'm only worried about the Garbagemon.  He looks like the only Ultimate there.  Look, I have a plan.  See that lump of black rock over there?  I can feel the darkness of the black rings, and I can feel the power they exude.  That rock reeks of it.  I think that it's a version of the control spires, and that if we can destroy it, we nullify the black rings.  Here's the plan, Yolei, you stick back and cover us while Cody and I go up close and personal with that stone.  After that, we hit the Bakemon and hope to free enough friendly Digimon that we can take that overgrown garbage can out."

            "Why do I have to stay back?" Yolei asked.

            "Because you're the only one who can.  Normally I would like us to all stay back, but with only our Champion forms available, you're the only one with a true ranged attack.  Just keep those guys off our back when we go in, right?"

            "Okay.  I guess."

            "Thanks Yolei.  All right guys, let's do it."

            The calmness and order of the mine erupted into chaos in one confusing moment.  For one second everything was quiet, and then there was a rush of rocks from one end of the cavern.  A set of astute eyes would have noticed six shapes dart down, but the noise was lost in the general background of the mine.  Only when two dark figures climbed to the top of a rather large uncleared boulder were they obvious, and by the time anyone got around to noticing them, it was already too late.

            "Wormmon digivolve to…Stingmon!"

            "Armadillomon digivolve to….Ankylomon!"

            "Hawkmon digivolve to…Aquilamon!"

            Ken leapt off the rock, landing on Stingmon's back, his favorite seat, as the insectoid Digimon shot off into the narrow confines of the mine.  Fortunately the guards were to confused by the sudden appearance of three Champions to do much, and Stingmon got through without a scratch.  At the end of his run as he zoomed above the heads of workers and guards alike, he rose up into the air, both arms extended.  Two different energy blades slid out from their sheaths and Stingmon plunged downward like an avalanche.

            "Spiking Strike!"

            "Junk Chunker!" the Garbagemon finally woke up, but his shot missed the diving Stingmon.

            The black rock exploded and the Dark Rings died all at once.  The explosion resonated throughout the underground caverns.

            The effects were obvious.  Black collars collapsed almost instantly and fell off, and the red glow left the eyes of the Digimon that they had been surrounding.  Immediately all work in the mine stopped.  There was a moment of pause, and then everything exploded into fire and disaster.

            The Bakemon rushed forward, but the Digimon so recently freed from their opponents evil dominion were in no mood to be of an assisting nature.  Even as the white ghosts rushed forward they were met with opposing fire, a wall of different attacks that exploded through nearly half the cavern.  Roars and explosions stopped the guards dead, and almost immediately everything changed their plan from attacking to retreating before the furious assault.  Everywhere there were flashes of the different colors of Digimon skins as the different groups slammed into each other repeatedly, trying desperately to tear each other from limb to limb.  One moment the Bakemon were pushing forward, black claws flashing now that they were too close to use their whips, battering their way through their opponents.  The next a tidal wave of rookie Digimon would thunder forward, unleashing a vigorous barrage of attacks from their variety of inbuilt weapons.  Only a small circle of calm encircled Ken and his companions.  Unfortunately, it was a circle that contained Garbagemon.

            "Ken, he has to destroy us to save his operation." Stingmon was speaking urgently as he watched his opponent carefully.  "We're the only Champions here, he has to stop us."

            "Let him try." Ken's voice was still full of anger.  "The horror he has created with the Dark Rings will not be allowed to continue."

            "Right, I won't let him through."

            "Junk Chunker!" a blast of pink ooze shot at Stingmon's head, but he was already lifting off, putting air under him as he soared upward.  The blast merely shook loose a large section of the wall behind, exposing other tunnels.

            "C'mon Ankylomon, let's give them something to worry about." Cody stood right by Ken's side, looking determined, his face as if carved from stone.  Ankylomon shot forward, clanking as he charged, and then rolling into a ball at the last moment.  "Tail Hammer!" he roared.

            The attack struck home, and now Garbagemon's small size began to work against him.  The attack did not truly damage him, but it batted him backwards against the wall, putting a dent in his trash can armor that he seemed to have a lot of problems getting rid of.  Even as he tried to get up, a series of Blast Rings send him and the rocks around him flying.

            "All right guys, let's get him!" Yolei shouted.

            "Altogether now!" Ken roared, pointing his arm out, the skills he had perfected as the Digimon emperor coming back to him.

            "Right!  Blast Rings!"

            "Tail Hammer!"

            "Spiking Strike!"

            There was a massive series of explosions in one corner of the cave, and then the rock began to collapse.  For a moment everything was covered in dust and then a voice spoke from inside.

            "Junk Chunker!"

            Stingmon jerked upward as he rose out of the dust, falling headfirst into a pile of nearby rocks.  He groaned once as he went in, and then there was only the sound of falling gravel from the explosions.  Garbagemon appeared from the dust and cloudy darkness, slowly approaching the fallen Digimon, his bazooka tracking to follow.

            "Goodbye fool." He grumbled.

            "I guess that it's my turn to take care of the garbage.  Vee Laser!"

            A new shot crashed into the Ultimate, sending him flying.  Through the hole he had blown in the wall, ExVeemon shot out, with Davis, TK and Kari following.

            "All right!" Yolei cheered.

            "Time to get out of here!" TK yelled.

            "Huh, but the others…" Ken trailed off as he looked around.  During the series of explosions that had wracked the room all the other Digimon had disappeared.  Apparently none of them had wanted to be present for this sort of battle.

            "We can get out of here Ken.  This guy is a little out of our league." Cody tugged on Ken's shirt urgently, trying to budge him into moving.

            "No, we can't.  If nothing else, we have to cover the other Digimon while they escape from wherever we are.  We've got to hold him off." Ken was staring.  His blood was still boiling from the rings, but something else inside of him was responding.  He could feel a roaring in his ears, but it echoed with the sounds of the singing sea, of the tides coming, unstoppable, to cleanse the barren shore.

            "How are we going to do that?" Yolei asked.

            "I'll tell you how.  With that!" TK pointed at Ken.  In the middle of his chest there was a pinkish-purple glow, and in the middle of it lay the stylized pattern of his crest, the Crest of Kindness, glowing with a ferocity matching what was in his heart.

           "I can feel it Ken!" Stingmon levered himself back onto his feet.

            "Go for it!" Ken snapped.

            ExVeemon…Stingmon…DNA Digivolve to…PAILDRAMON!

            "All right, we got it covered now!" Davis jumped up in the air, shooting a fist up exuberantly.

            "Well, it looks like it's time to take out the trash!" Paildramon thundered, bringing both arms up in front of him.

            "I've missed that." Ken was almost teary eyed now.

            "Paildramon, or the bad jokes?" TK asked, running up beside Ken.

            "Both."

            Garbagemon did not even bother responding, instead throwing himself forward, one hand bringing his weapon back into firing range.

            "Try that and I'll pop your can like a balloon.  Sting Strike!"

            The Garbagemon flew back again, this time howling in pain.  But instead of fleeing, he rose again, hate filling his eyes.  One hand pulled his weapon around, gleaming as it shone with pent up destructive energies.

            "Junk Chunker!"

            "Desperado Blaster!"

            There was a sudden flash of fire, and then nothing.

            "Well, we can go back to the surface now." Kari noted clinically, observing the map on the Scanner.

            "And we can fight if we need to." Davis shouted.  He sounded as confident as ever.

            "I'm glad that we have a better chance now." Ken smiled at them.  "And I'm glad that I can lend something back to the group."

            "Hey Ken?" Cody asked as the group started to leave.

            "Yeah Cody?" Ken looked down at his friend.

            "Remember when you said that you owed us one?" Cody asked.

            "Yes…" Ken's voice was hesitant.

            "Well…" Cody's voice dropped off as he began to whisper conspiratorially.  

            After a moment, Ken, looking extremely nervous, dropped back to talk to Yolei who was walking in back.

            "What's up Ken?"

            "Well Cody, he said that I should…I mean that he thought that…" _Oh well_, Ken thought to himself.  Leaning over gently he kissed Yolei on the cheek.  Fortunately they were almost within the concealing shadows of the tunnels once more, and it prevented Yolei from looking like a tomato.  As she blushed furiously, she shot a glance at Cody who was walking ahead.  She could barely see him, but she knew that he was smirking tremendously_.  I'm either going to hug that kid, or kill him_, she thought as she tried to keep her face from catching on fire.


	7. Forgotten Monuments

Disclaimer:  I own no Digimon licences/titles/any other copyrighted niceties I may have forgotten.  I need a sharper pencil

Episode VII 

Forgotten Monuments

_"Lives of great men all remind us_

_     We can make our lives sublime,_

_And, departing, leave behind us_

_     Footprints on the sands of time;"_

                                                            -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

            "So who are you?" Kari asked quietly, trying not to break the stillness that had settled around her like a cloak, masking her movements and voice.

            "Remember when you got possessed by that light back when you were fighting the Dark Masters?"

            "Yes.  Was that you?"

            "In a peculiar way." For some reason the woman she was talking to refused, at least to her mind, to assume a particular shape.  She wafted between tall and imposing and friendly, between blond haired and raven colored locks.

            "What do you see to the east Hikari?"

            Kari looked out from the top of the mountain, surveying the ground around her.  Her vision was scarcely able to pick out nearby rocks in the darkness that surrounded her, let alone distant surroundings.  But somehow she knew that she was not supposed to watch with her eyes, but rather with her heart.  "Darkness." She whispered carefully and precisely.  "Darkness and shadow, massing and gathering, waiting for the hour of battle to arrive."

            "And the north?"

            Kari shivered.  "It's cold.  I feel darkness, and ice and winter waiting for the moment to strike."

            "The south?"

            "It burns.  Fire has already ravaged the plains and the grasslands.  Now the last living things are vanishing under the rush of flames."

            "And the west?"

            "The dawn."  Kari suddenly wrinkled her brow in thought.  "Why the west?  Since when does the sun come up in the west?"

            "The sun isn't important Kari.  You stand on the borders of realms that lie on the verge of human comprehension, on the edge of our imagination.  You stand facing the rising of the Dark itself.  But from here the glittering tower that is the Heart of the World stands to the west.  It is from there that salvation comes.  Remember it always."

            Kari woke up suddenly in the darkness.  Gatomon was still snoozing next to her, but the oppressive darkness that filled the caves they were hiding in filled everything.  The fact that it was nighttime outside probably was not helping in the least.  She got up quietly and walked over to the night watchman.

            "Hey Kari." TK did not even look around.

            "Hey TK, how did you know it was me?"

            "I always know when you're around."

            Kari sat down, cradling her legs to her.  Patomon clambered up onto her knees and started to settle down again, as if for a short nap.

            "Really?"

            "Of course.  You doubt me?"

            "Of course not TK.  I don't doubt you at all.  I just wondered how you knew."

            TK sat back further, leaning and looking out of the mouth of the cave at the sky, absently tracing odd art patterns in the dark granite at his feet.  "I suppose you could say that it's kind of a sixth sense, but not in any psychic way or anything.  I just know.  It's a lot of things.  I could hear your footsteps and the way that you walk tells me that you're not Davis or Yolei, they both step heavier.  The way the air changed around me as you approached told me that it wasn't Cody, and the faint scent of your hair told me that it wasn't Ken.  He may look good, but he doesn't absentmindedly place flowers in his hair."

            Kari elbowed him in the side briefly.  "I'm impressed with your deductive reasoning Mr. Holmes.  So tell me, why are you so good at this."

            "Oh that.  Well, that's actually sort of simple.  It comes naturally.  You know, like those kids who are raised in a primitive jungle can recognize poisonous plants by their smell, and can tell what kind of animal they're chasing by the way the branches are broken.  Like we learned about in Geography."

            Kari gave her companion a funny look.  "But you were raised in Japan like the rest of us, not some sort of foreign jungle."

            TK gave an uncomfortable shrug.  "Well, that's not exactly true." Before Kari could protest, he plunged on.  "You see, I lived in Japan.  But I spent almost half a year in the Digital World, dodging monsters and scrounging for firewood and stuff like that.  You didn't really spend that much time there, but I still get nightmares about it and stuff.  It really changed me, and I never lost my touch in things.  That's why I'm a good athlete.  Practicing while you're being chased by a pack of pre-teen wannabe basketball stars is one thing, trying to evade a pack of howling Tyrannomon gives you a different feel for life."

            Kari was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say.

            "It's okay TK.  We won, didn't we?" Patamon put his ears up again, a sure sign he would now do his best to engage TK in conversation.  "We fought through and we won.  And even if it was hard, you got strong.  Almost as strong as me, right?"

            TK smiled, and with that action, he banished all the weariness from his posture.  He reached one hand down and rubbed Patamon's head gently.  "Sure old friend.  Anything you say."

            "You know I'm right."  Patamon protested.

            "Yes, I do.  So what's on your mind Kari?"

            "I couldn't sleep.  Weird dreams.  Not scary, but weird."

            TK's eyes flickered ever so briefly downward, but in the night Kari missed the sudden movement, and in a moment it was gone.  He nodded to encourage her.

            "I just…ah…wondered if you wanted some company."

            "Of course." TK smiled, glad that he did not have to endanger his emotional sanity here.

            "So what're you thinking about?"

            "Whether we're ready for this."

            "What do you mean?" asked Kari, almost unnecessarily.  She had a suspicion that she knew very well what he was talking about.

            "Well, you remember the first adventure this team had together.  We had a horrible problem with hurting real Digimon.  It was as if we were too innocent.  The fact that we could redeem Ken, that the Dark Ring Digimon were able to be freed just by destroying those rings gave us a false sense of confidence.  It seemed that hurting anybody was a horrible thing.  And then when it came down to the wire, they were almost unable to destroy different Digimon, those possessed by evil.  And because of this lives were almost lost.  I was wondering if they were ready for this now."

            "We have to be TK." Kari's voice sounded weak and reedy even to her as she stared into the stars.  "We have to be.  Because we're all that we have."

            The silence stretched on as the two sat solemnly staring at the stars outside, glimmering like jewels in the opaque blackness of the heavens at night.

            "I've been thinking." Ken remarked to TK as they sat there, at the edge of the stream, filling what instruments they could with water.  "Why are the Digimon we've fought here so far so eager to destroy us?  They aren't being controlled, are they?"

            Yolei, who had just come back from hiding all signs that their campsite had been present, sat down next to them, staring mutely at TK.

            "I mean why would they do this?  Why would they be evil like that?"

            TK smiled out of one corner of his mouth.  Ken had just given him the opening he needed to make his point, and he wanted to make it.  "They were corrupted by something more powerful than even your Dark Spirals even dreamed of Ken."

            "What?"

            "Something more powerful than the Dark Spirals?" Yolei sat up and fidgeted with her glasses nervously.

            "Greed." TK turned his attention back to the plate he was soaking.

            "Greed?  But how could greed do that?" Ken wondered.

            "I asked Izzy about it, when it became apparent that we were fighting evil Digimon back in the last battles against MaloMyostismon.  He couldn't think of a reason, but between us, some of the older kids thought up a good theory."

            "Oh?" Yolei instinctively drew a little closer to Ken, who was drawing a little closer to Yolei.  TK was very careful to keep his grin from becoming a full out smirk to preserve some of their dignity.

            "We think that Digimon are like people."

            "Like people?"

            "Yeah, like people." TK looked up at the sky.  "You see, some people are really good, like Kari is sometimes, you know all about her purity of light thing, right?  Well, other people are really evil.  Not evil like you were Ken, but angry at the world, trying to make it suffer.  People like Hitler and Stalin and all those other dictators and tyrants.  The thing is, is that most people are in-between, they really aren't either.  They would prefer to be good, but the occasionally slip towards evil.  Make sense, right?"

            Both members of his audience nodded.

            "Well, here it gets different.  Because of their different abilities, Digimon are more extreme.  This means that good Digimon are really good, selfless, helpful, sacrificing, all the traits we expect of our Digimon partners.  But that means that when you have bad Digimon, they are really bad.  And because of the balance between Darkness and Light, you have a lot of bad Digimon.  Those kind have to be stopped before they hurt others…right?"

            "Oh."  Ken considered that for a moment.  "I guess that makes sense."

            "Good.  Don't worry about it for now.  But the moment it stops bothering you to do the kinds of things we have to in order to stop them, then you worry."

            "I guess." Yolei suddenly noticed how close she was to Ken at the same moment Ken looked over at her.  There was a sudden jerk, and then the two of them were much farther apart than they had started.  TK carefully refrained from smiling at their sudden discomfort, or at the sudden flush of red that was now dotting their cheeks.

            "Uh, well…I better get back." Yolei excused herself and headed back to the campsite.

            "Ken, you have it bad." TK gave Ken a little shove.

            "Watch it Takeru."  Ken snapped in mock anger.  "Or someone might point out to our little Angel of Light how you look at her when you think she's not watching."

            "Hey, I…Ken, stop laughing!  Do you hear me!?"

            "I could really use a place to stop." Veemon muttered under his breath as he walked onward.

            "You should talk.  Your legs are at least twice as long as mine are." Wormmon was struggling to keep up with his long-legged partner.  He was also short on breath.  The green worm always seemed to have a few problems keeping up with the fast paced and usually absent-minded Ken.

            "Sorry old friend." Ken smiled down at his companion as they walked along, slowing his pace just a little as the rest of the group adjusted.

            The terrain around them had become green and fertile, bushes had changed into tall pine trees, looming overhead like silent sentinels, protecting them from wandering gazes from up on high.  The thick green canopy of needles rustled gently whenever the wind came through with a roar not unlike that of rushing water.  Everywhere was blanketed by the scent of pine, overwhelming the nasal senses like some great heavy comforter, laid gently over the forest.  The path they were following was fairly wide, although filled with granite rocks and such, forcing them to clamber over difficult terrain.  To their right they could look downward to the edge of the treeline, perhaps fifty meters away, and the steep sloping grasslands below, illuminated with the sunlight of late day, glancing off the deep blue waters of a lake far below.

            "I think that we should start looking for a place to spend the evening." TK suggested, quickly assessing the state of their varied Digimon.  With the exception of Patamon, who had been riding on TK's hat all day, and who had mastered the art of falling asleep on TK's head, all the other Digimon and humans looked pretty tired out.

            "Well, with scenery like this, I wouldn't mind sleeping out under the stars." Kari suggested.

            "Well, I do not believe that will be necessary." Hawkmon hovered overhead briefly.  "I seem to have discovered an interesting structure up ahead, a large mansion of sorts.  I think it interesting enough to lead to further examination."

            "A what?" Davis asked.

            "Let's go look." TK suggested.

            As they crested the hill, Yolei narrowed her eyes in disbelief.  This was a mansion?  If anything it was the proverbial haunted house, sides falling down, rickety stairs and boarded up windows.  What was left of the glass would let through bugs the size of her bicycle.  Everywhere there were pieces whose structural integrity seemed due to wood rot and the persistence of matter more than any kind of architectural strength.  All in all, the place looked disgusting.

            "Wow!"  Davis breathed.

            "It's beautiful!" Kari agreed.

            "Breathtaking!" Hawkmon agreed.

            "It looks nice to me." Wormmon noted, having climbed up on a rock to have a look.

            "Uh guys?" Yolei turned around to face them.  "Are you guys all right?"

            "Yeah, why?" Ken asked.

            "Because that place looks hideous.  I mean, doesn't it?"  Yolei squinted at the others, who were looking at her confused.  She stared at the structure again before turning around.

            "Are you okay Yolei?" Ken asked carefully.  "I mean you have been walking a lot and…"

            As Yolei tried frantically to figure out what had happened, she twisted her head to the side, and stopped suddenly.  In the corner of her vision, there was the mark where her glasses ended, the edge of the frame.  The image of the house coming through her glasses was dark and seamy and falling apart, but the hazy blur she could see out of the corner of her eye was pristine and white.  Carefully she reached up and took the glasses that Courage had given her off and peered at the house.  

            Sure enough, instead of a gray, falling down dump, the house-shaped blur lurking in front of her was ivory white and gleamed in the evening sunlight.  Little beams of light shot out at odd angles, indicating the existence of a variety of different reflective objects.  Very carefully, ignoring the stares of those around her, she placed her glasses back on her nose.  As soon as the lenses of the special glasses covered her face the image disappeared into the falling down shack.  She grimaced and took off her glasses, handing them to Kari.

            "Here Kari, put them on."

            Kari shrugged and placed the glasses on her face.  The moment she looked at the house, her eyes widened in surprise and her jaw dropped.  She stared at the building for a few moments, and then blinked a few times.  One hand came up shakily to take off the glasses and hand them over to TK, who was still looking confused.  TK put them on, and immediately raised a single eyebrow.  After a moment he shook his head to clear it and passed them onto Ken.  It only took a minute for the glasses to round the entire circle, before everyone tried to figure out what was going on.

            "Incredible." Ken whispered after a moment.  "It looks like those glasses do more than not break.  They gave you some pretty incredible stuff Yolei."

            "I wonder if my box does anything.?" Davis asked quietly.

            "Well, it seems pretty simple to me.  I would bet anything that what we see now is an illusion to try and attract us.  Scorpiomon and Devimon did the same thing to us quite a while ago.  I should have been expecting this." TK put his chin on his hand.  "Well, I guess we should avoid it."

            "I should have known that the trap would have to be better disguised." A voice whispered out of the trees around them.

            Everybody froze immediately.  Eyes wide, they glanced around, but nobody seemed particularly interested in seeing what was immediately around them.  The Digimon sprang into action, standing there, fangs and claws bared, ready for battle in whatever form it approached them.

            "Uh, who was that?" Yolei asked, trying to see around.

            "I have no idea." Cody whispered.

            "It's just me." There was a faint glimmer and a Digimon that looked like a better dressed version of Bakemon drifted out from the fog.

            "Phantomon!" Kari and Gatomon yelled, shifting into offensive stance.

            "Yes, 'tis me.  Oh, and some friends I forgot to mention."  At once the woods around them shimmered and the forms of dozens of Bakemon poured out of the trees, forming a semicircle around them.  There was only one safe path out, straight into the house ahead.

            "Uh guys, we have a plan, right?" Kari asked nervously, edging backwards.

            "Sure." Davis muttered.

            "Great." Ken was carefully edging away from the claw bearing ghosts.  He certainly did not look pleased.  "Mind telling us what it is?"

            "Yeah.  Run like crazy!"

            Quickly the Digidestined and their Digimon broke formation and hurled themselves forward towards the house.  Their quick strides ate up the ground between them and the illusion rapidly.

            As the Bakemon lurched ahead in pursuit, floating over the ground and growling half-audibly in the sudden influx of horror, Phantomon shook his head slowly.  "What need is there to bait the trap, when it is so much easier just to drive the prey into it?"

            Yolei dashed through the first set of corroded arches guarding the illusionary building as the others pounded along at her side.  There was no voice, only the steady, determined panting of people trying to put as much ground as possible between themselves and whatever was chasing them.  Behind them there was the occasional sound of cracking branches and rustling leaves as their pursuers gradually approached them.  Unfortunately, through the pounding of her heart and the roaring in her ears, Yolei understood that it was impossible to determine how close the others were.

            "Everybody inside!" TK yelled.  He had reached it first and now, almost losing his hat, he dashed inside, curling around to the left almost immediately.

            Davis and Ken rushed in next, following TK around the corner.  Kari followed them, glancing back to make sure that everyone was all right.  Yolei and Cody arrived almost together, Yolei giving Cody a hand up as he made his way over what now appeared as a fallen timber.  Yolei had a moment to glance up and realize that the images outside the lenses of her glasses had changed color again, the illusion apparently having vanished, before Cody lurched forward and dived over the threshold, with her in hot pursuit.

            "Shadow Scythe!"

            The knife-like blast of dark energy sliced through wooden supports and half-rotted beams with the ease of a hot knife going through butter.  There was a sudden creak as the structure gave the usual premonitions of an imminent lack of verticality, and then the roof began to fall down.  Unlike what you might have expected the roof collapsed slowly, one beam at a time dropping down, letting fall a variety of wooden rubble, before being stopped temporarily by the next support.  This meant that Yolei had a moment after the passage that the others had disappeared down collapsed behind them to escape.  She paused, grabbed Hawkmon by the feathers, and dived back into the deeper rubble, toward a large crack in the floor, dived through it, and was free.

            "We all right?" TK asked, leaning against a still-intact board and panting.  The corridor that they were currently inhabiting was fairly stable still, but looked more like a mine shaft than an actual corridor.  Everything in both directions looked dark and shady, cold and unwelcoming.  The only light came from a handful of holes in the side, letting in illuminating sunlight from outside, but it was barely enough to let them determined who was who, let alone where they were.

            "I suppose so, if you forget that there are only four of us now." Davis snapped, looking back.

            Ken shot bolt upright.  "Are they…"

            "I've got them on the D3." Kari was checking her device carefully.  "Yolei and Cody both show up as okay, and they're moving, so I think they got away."

            "Well, this hallway is straight, so we can't go back.  We can only go forward."

            "Forward is good.  I like forward."  Veemon told them.

            "Why?" Davis asked, looking down at him.

            There was an evil laugh behind them that sounded very much like Phantomon following them in the distance.  A quick shudder ran through the group, and then Davis turned forward again.  "Forward, right.  Forward is good."

            Yolei looked around, her eyes adjusting to the gloom.  Everywhere she looked, there was darkness, concentrated in some areas, and more spread out in others.  All in all the place she was in appeared to be a large wooden room, with numerous cracks in the walls, each leading to further darkness.  Here and there she could faintly hear the drip of water, almost as if she was in a cave, and the place exuded a strange kind of musty calm.  Although it was impossible to tell what the room must once have been, it was easy to see that there was nothing left there.  If she had been here under other, more peaceful circumstances, she might have enjoyed the place.

            But now she began to move her way out carefully.  Hawkmon was curiously silent, following his human companion carefully, trying not to make any unnecessary noise, even to the keeping still of his feathers.  Yolei tested the ground carefully, and finally settled on crawling her way through the rubble, carefully avoiding anything that looked like it might move under her, betraying her position to anyone who was listening.  After a few careful steps she crawled into a dark space to the side of the room.

            "Excellent." Hawkmon whispered.  "Now what?"

            "I don't know.  Where do you think we are?"

            "I haven't a clue, but sooner or later somebody will be by to check up on this area.  We should probably try to move farther in."

            "Right."  Yolei continued crawling into the dark.  They proceeded in that fashion for quite a while, trying to remain inside the narrow corridor, and always attempting to avoid making the slightest noise.  Hawkmon soon found that the whole procedure had begun to wear on his nerves, and Yolei was not looking too chipper anymore.

            "Why don't we rest a bit and get our bearings.  I'm getting so exhausted I may molt."  Hawkmon watched Yolei carefully, gauging her response.  She collapsed rather quietly against one side of the wall, a sign of how tired inside she really was.  But there was something else, something in her odd silence that had begun to disturb Hawkmon severely.

            "What's wrong?" he asked.

            "I'm just tired.  Maybe we should stay here awhile.  It seems safe."

            "It's not very safe.  This isn't like you, we should go look for the others at least."

            "I guess so." She kept her head down and let the silence strech on to an uncomfortable length.

            "What's wrong?" another pause followed, this one only faintly upset by far off noise.

            "Maybe we should stay here.  It's safe here.  And I don't want to fight anyone again."  Yolei looked off to the side.  "It's a whole bunch of things.  I guess I never was too comfortable with the idea of destroying these guys in the first place.  It's all so POINTLESS!" she emphasized her last statement by slamming her fist into the ground.  The ground was hard-packed earth and did not seem to truly notice her assault, but Hawkmon staggered back in shock at his companion's rash behavior.  

            "It's not as if we had any choice.  And you know that they'll go on destroying other innocents if we let them go…"

            "Well, it's more than that now.  In the last fight, Ken almost got killed.  And in the first fight TK had to basically be carried back to camp he was so injured.  I may not want to see anyone hurt anymore.  Especially not one of us.  If someone else gets hurt trying to save lives I'll never forgive myself." Yolei choked briefly on a sob before continuing.  "Do you understand that Hawkmon, I hate it, I really do.  I don't think that I can handle it anymore."

            "Yolei, it's not as if we're asking you to do anything more than save your friends.  It is imperative that we act together to stop this evil before it can hurt anything else."

            "I don't think I can do it.  I like Digimon and people too much.  It makes me too weak.  You're going to have to win without my help."

            "Yolei, is that you?" another voice crept around the corner.

            "Cody?"

            "I tol' you it was her.  Now you just settle down, and we'll have both of you out of here in no time." Armadillomon was clearly speaking to his young companion.  A few seconds later one side of the corridor exploded in a shower of wood sparks, and then the Digimon and his short human companion were standing alongside them.  They looked rather worse for the wear, covered in dirt and sawdust, but otherwise they were fine.

            "What's up Yolei?"

            When the girl failed to reply, Hawkmon looked over at Cody.  "She's having a bit of a problem right now.  She seems to think that she's not ready for this."

            "Oh.  I understand.  It's probably this house.  It seems a very sad place to me.  C'mon Yolei, we can get out of this tunnel and escape the darkness for a moment.  All right?"

            "You can do it without me Cody.  I should probably just sit here.  That way I won't have to hurt anybody, and nobody will get hurt because of me."

            "Now you know I can't do that.  C'mon.  Armadillomon, could you drill us through this wall.  If the echoes are right, there's quite a large room on the other side."  Cody spoke in his most reasonable voice, but he was exchanging glances that were quite alarmed with Armadillomon and Hawkmon, who were only able to shrug in response.

            As Armadillomon began to tunnel his way through the wall and to the next room over, Cody tried to get Yolei to move.  At first she resisted him, but then she seemed to give it up and slowly began to crawl through the new hole.  Armadillomon watched them carefully and then stepped through and stopped dead.

            "Whoa." For a moment he stood paralyzed.  Then he seemed to remember that he was blocking the way for the rest of them, and he stood aside carefully, still staring at what was ahead.  Somewhat alarmed at his companion's response, Cody rushed through, with Yolei and Hawkmon dragging along behind.

            His first impression was that he could stand up again.  Some light came through from above, filtering through cracks in the old, rotted boards that formed the ceiling, but now, instead of the yellow-gold glow of a setting sun, they were the silver light of stars, shining down in peaceful streamers of gentle twilight.  Above him the roof was actually quite tall, and it seemed as though it was erected quite firmly, despite the starlight coming through.  Here and there were arches of some hardwood, dark now with age, that seemed stable enough to hold a house on top of them.  Dust motes and puffs of rotted wood floated quietly in the beams of starlight.  The ground itself was dotted with regularly spaced pieces of carved stone.  There was a moment of puzzlement as Cody tried to figure out what had provoked such a response from his partner before he too understood.

            "Oh.  Oh …"

            The stone at his feet was marked with a simple inscription, and covered a large piece of ground.  _Here lies Floramon, who dwelled in this house for some thirteen years before being killed by the enemy in the forest while she gathered food_.  Some steady handed mason had chiseled out the words in perfect form, but they still gave the feeling of being intensely personal, a mark to a dear friend.  And, as Cody tried to recoil in horror over the sudden stasis in his body, his gaze lifted involuntarily as he started, and swept over the other stones, realizing in belated shock that each of them carried their own names.

            If anything, the effect of the graveyard was more profound for Yolei than for the others.  As the meaning began to sink in on her, she stood slowly, unfolding like some trick origami figure until she towered over Cody, but her line of sight did not rise above his.  She crossed over slowly, every step seeming an involuntary action, and knelt down, folding in on herself once more, and placed one hand on the cold marble of the stone beneath her.  One tear dropped from her face onto the icy stone surface, decorating the bare rock for a moment with a drop of incandescent crystal.  Then she turned to her friends, and in her eyes lurked a shape and color, a slight quavering, that spoke of her horror.

            "I can't handle this guys.  I just can't."

            "Yes you can, you're quite strong you know." Hawkmon tried.

            "No I can't, I couldn't bear doing this to somebody.  To anybody.  I can't take this suffering anymore.  Look at these graves, it's like something out of a nightmare."

            "It is horrible, but it's what we have to stop." Cody walked over to her, knowing somehow that her friendship, the oldest friendship she had in the group, might be the key to her new dilemma.

            "We can't stop it!  Look at how many others tried.  And failed!"

            "So, we'll try too."

            "No, I can't do it.  I can't make more graveyards like this Cody.  Look at it, seriously.  I'm too compassionate to create another place like this, even if the only bodies in it are the bodies of our enemies.  And given the way we've been going, this is probably somewhat like the place where we'll end up.  I don't want to be part of anything that has to do with this."

            "It's going to happen Yolei.  It's going to happen anyway.  This is what evil is.  You were strong enough to fight against MaloMyotismon, weren't you?  And this is the kind of thing we were fighting against.  Overwhelming evil.  And this is what evil does, if someone doesn't fight it.  My father taught me that, it just took me awhile to learn it.  We've all got ot fight for what we believe in."

            "I don't want to fight anymore.  I want this to all stop!"

            Cody laid a hand on her arm, but she brushed it off as she began to walk through the narrow aisles marking the boundaries of individual graves.  "I know.  I know, but how else can we do it?"  he whispered.

            Yolei, trying carefully to control the tears in her eyes walked down the aisles aimlessly, her mind turning over what Cody had said, both within her mind and in her guts.  She knew that he was right, her academically tuned mind allowed her no other solution, but in her mind, she simply could not accept that reality.  As she deliberately put one foot in front of the other she thought at all the horror she had felt when another Digimon died, even one as twisted as LadyDevimon, and wondered if she could face it again.  Compassion was her weak point, the source of the team's weakness, and the source of her inability to struggle forward another step.  She hated this war, this war and everything it stood for.

            As she made her way toward the opposite end of the room, she noticed a few peculiar things.  At first the presence of the stones themselves confused her.  After all, what bodies would there be to bury under them?  But then she realized that the fine dust of disintegrated data could indeed be buried here.  A corner of her mind noted the engineering and architectural irregularities in the structure, but as she walked forward, she realized that it was artistically done, to allow each stone to bask in the light of the stars.  And then, she saw that the writing was changing.  As she approached the front of the room it became gradually scratchier, cruder, as if the person carving it had less time and less talent now to work with.  Here the writing was longer, listing names of battles and dates that held no meaning for Yolei, but seemed to be somewhat important to the one who had written it.  And somehow, here, as she approached the very front, drawn to a single piece of stone at the front, she began to understand the feeling of despair that now cloaked her every movement.

            But it was the stone at the front of the room that drew her attention.  It stood alone, tilted in the ground at a crazy angle, the writing on it scratchy and ill carved, and decorated only by one single piece, a small flower carved into the stone.  This stone was not marble or anything pretty, but rather a piece of jagged granite, as if, in death it's carver had wished for some last monument with which to defy his foe.  And on it, carved in rough script, was a single name, etched into the stone as if by a sword:  _Leomon_.  And, as she touched it, she knew the truth, the history behind it.  That the stone had been struck there earlier, in preparation for the final moment, and that Leomon, having buried and lost all his companions and friends to the Darkness without, had emerged to fight one last time.  And that, as the forces of evil battered down his gates and invaded the halls of his last sanctuary, a house once full of laughter that had atrophied and died as the Dark had drained it of its lives, he had fought.  And, mortally wounded, he had crept down here through uncollapsed tunnels, and still bleeding, carved his name on this stone with his notched sword, a monument to the future that here, for a time, someone had stood against the Darkness and failed.  And then, his gravestone already dug, he fought the minions of the Darkness in this room, and here had died, his data decomposing over that of his resting friends.

            And in that moment, that one moment when she could reach across time and see the life of one who had died here for a futile cause, she understood something.  The determination, the kindness inside, that had let a peaceful being stand here, in a  torn down house in the middle of the forces of the Dark, and throw his power at the darkness that threatened to overwhelm him, all for a cause that he knew he had already failed.  And Yolei knew, as well as he had known then, that she could do no less, that someone must always stand up and say the words "Not on my watch!", even knowing that it would cost them their lives.  And she understood that evil must always be resisted, no matter the cost.

            "No more." The voice that came out of her throat was barely recognizable as hers.  It carried overtones of a deeper, stronger voice, one emitting from a silver robed figure of majestic power that hovered now on the edge of her vision.  The words rolled out of her mouth like a tidal wave, unstoppable as a mighty river and scouring the banks of her consciousness like they were aflame.  "Not on my watch!  And never again!  I love life and light too much to let this happen again!"

            As she spoke the flower decoration on the stone exploded into red flame, pounding outward like a flare from some firework display back in the real world, or the wrath of a sun that has been locked away and now is exploding forth into battle.  Slowly the picture rose from the stone and moved to the center of her chest, still glowing like a tiny, angry star.  Red lances of light began to explode from her, and one of them seemed to lance right to her brain, stabbing it through like a nail from a hammer blow.  And she knew that the Digimon that had killed that Leomon was here, in the house, waiting for her.  And the fire inside her, the fire born of her own love for the sanctity of life, exploded into a wrath that was not a killing fever, but rather a righteous fury that would not be denied.

            "Yolei?" Cody asked, confused at the sight.  The others were just staring in awe.

            Above them there was a sudden scream, somewhere off to the side.  Yolei felt the powers of the crest she now wore react in return, focusing her on that point.  And, with a quick gesture, she thrust her D3 out at Hawkmon, her jaw tightening like a vice, and the new power exploding down into it. 

            Kari had screamed of course, finding it a thoroughly therapeutic way to release stress.  The sudden encounter with the dozen Bakemon waiting for them at the end of the hallway had contributed highly to that stress, but now she was ready to get down to business.

            TK had reacted first while Davis and Ken were still sorting things out.  His staff whipped out of his walking position and slammed forward like a battering ram.  The Bakemon, all dripping claws and ghostly noises, had been expecting the Digimon to attack, and the humans to run for it, not to have things switched around.  Thus the sudden explosion of rather more than a handful of TK into their midst, staff swinging around in wide arcs, bought the other three a few precious moments to pull things together.

            "Veemon digivolves too….ExVeemon!"

            "Wormmon digivolves too….Stingmon!"

            "You ready Ken?"

            "Right behind you Davis!  Let's go guys!"

            "ExVeemon….Stingmon….DNA Digivolve to….Paildramon!"

            "Your turn Patamon."  TK fell back for a second as the massive Ultimate stepped between them and danger.

            "Patamon digivolves too….Angemon!"

            "Go get them guys!" Davis yelled.  "We're not running this time."

            "Bakemon are pretty weak.  We stand a good chance on wiping them out before they can get help." TK stared the first row down, one hand absently twirling his staff.

            "Lightning Claw!" A Bakemon was thrown roughly against one side of the building, shattering the dusty wooden wall into firewood.

            "Hand of Fate!" a whole section of the ghost Digimon simply evaporated under that golden bolt of power, disappearing into black clouds of data.

            "Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon was an odd Digimon in one respect.  Izzy reported that he had one of the weakest attacks for an Ultimate.  However, he had the fastest firing rate.  Within seconds the air was peppered with blue bolts of fiery destruction relentlessly seeking out their targets.

            "We're breaking through!" Davis exulted, throwing one fist in the air.

            "C'mon Paildramon." Ken leaned back, letting the wind created by the battle send his hair whipping across his face.  "Let's finish this off."

            "Not so fast.  Seize them!"  Phantomon drifted in through a skylight that one of Paildramon's errant shots had created in the roof.  Behind him were a whole host of other Bakemon, possibly as many as a hundred of them, filling the air with their ghostly cries.

            "Now we're in trouble."  TK muttered.  "Davis, Ken, Bakemon may be weak but if they box us in, we're trapped here, and they'll just swarm us under."

            "Right, Paildramon, let's withdraw and come back…"

            "Uh guys…" Kari sounded frightened and breathless.  "They already got behind us."

            "What!" Davis turned and groaned inwardly.  Rapidly progressing up the hallway they had come through was another host of Bakemon, trapping them here.  Now they were surrounded and had nowhere to go.

            "Angemon, seal off the rear, keep them off of us."  TK used his staff to force a few overly-brave Bakemon to withdraw.  "That way they'll have to come into our fire."

            "I can't keep this up forever." Paildramon informed them, his two cannons firing rapidly and non-stop at the oncoming ghosts.  He was already looking tired.

            "I know." Ken lashed out at one Bakemon with a piece of broken board, forcing it just a little backward.  "But I refuse to go down without a fight."

            "Me too…it's not over yet." Davis was still defiant.

            "Grand Horn!"

            "Tail Hammer!"

            The wall behind Phantomon exploded inward and two angry looking Champion Digimon were standing there, bouncing through the hole and throwing themselves out in an all out attack.  Ankylomon sent his tail crashing through the Bakemon, and Aquilamon's blast rings zapped another set of opponents.

            "Phantomon!  You've killed enough!" Yolei was standing in the wreckage of the wall, glowing a brilliant fiery red like the sun in all its wrathful glory.  One hand was clutched at her glowing chest, the other held out her D3, which also emitted the fateful light.  "This time you don't get away with killing the innocent.  This time we stop you!"

            "Aquilamon…digivolves too….Silphymon!"

            The D3 flared, and in concert Aquilamon flared as well.  Red fire flared down his body, transforming his wings into arms, his body into a clearly humanoid torso.  A silverish gleam deposited armored chestplates and visor on his body, and a final flare light enabled the belt buckle device that amplified his power.  Red lightning flashed along his body, perfecting any minor touches before being deposited in his visor, which flashed bright electronic blue.

            "Phatnomon, for the crimes that you've commited I fear that you must face a higher judge."

            "Maybe I should cut you down to size you overgrown two-legged chicken.  Shadow Scythe!"

            The black blade sliced out, but Silphymon was not there, diving over its trajectory and kicking Phantomon solidly in the chest.  As the Digimon folded back up, he was forced backwards, scattering his horde of Bakemon in all directions.  He thrust out again, another blade of pure darkness rising toward his opponent, but Silphymon was already dropping below Phatomon's line of fire, a red and white blur, hammering at his opponent like full out battering ram.  There was a moment of buffeting at the hands of Silphymon, and then a giant kick freed the two of them from battle.  This time Silphymon was not just standing there.

            "Static Force!" His two arms swirled, gathering the energy needed to launch the attack into a giant red and white ball of fire, swirling in preparation for an attack that would have made even a meteor jealous.  For a moment he held cupped fury in his hands, and then he unleashed it like a burning thunderbolt directly into Phantomon's heart.  As the phantom Digimon disintegrated, his Bakemon cohorts, seeing how outmanned they were, turned and fled, at last freeing the house of evil.  

            The six Digidestined and their Digimon companions stood in the makeshift graveyard silently, respecting the wishes of those who had been laid to rest there for all time.  Each person there harbored their own thoughts, their own feelings and their own emotions.  It was Yolei who was busy.  Using the incredibly hard tip of Cody's sword she was carving very carefully, a message in the stone to whoever might come after.

            _Here Light triumphed over Darkness_.

            And behind the trail of the sword blade, there was only the sound of history waiting to see what the outcome of the war that had already unfolded would be.


	8. Truth and Beauty

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Thank you for your consideration   
Author's Note: It does take me a long time to write these things. Doesn't it? In any case I want to apologize for any HTML errors that may occur, I am not writing this in my usual location. In addition, since I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, nothing is really going to go up for a bit. I try to keep a bit ahead, and what I'm on now has made me stuck.   
Thanks to those people who took their time to review. 

Episode VIII 

Truth and Beauty 

_"'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,--that is all_   
_Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."_

_Ode on a Grecian Urn_   
John Keats 

"That was great." Biyomon rubbed her stomach as she digested lunch. "So now what?"   
"We start moving again." Tai seemed to have lost some of his urgency, but he was still pressing everyone pretty hard, as the ragged state of their postures was beginning to show. "Matt, you get point. Sora, you take the right. I'll get the left. Let's go, right?"   
Matt nodded, trotting off with Gabumon to form the point guard. Sora and Biyomon smiled and nodded, walking off to the right into the woods that formed one side of the path. Tai watched this for a moment, fiddling with his pockets before pacing off with Agumon into the brown grasses that rose to his shoulder, marking the other side of the path. It was these guard positions that they had begun to assume after a few days of travel, that helped keep them both aware and safe. Izzy always stayed with the main group to keep track of everybody (his tendency to operate his laptop at all times prevented him from being a truly effective lookout) and to coordinate everybody.   
The last day of travel had been quiet, nobody coming near enough to detect or worry about, but they still kept their guard up. After all, they were in the middle of what could be widely considered unfriendly territory by all parties involved.   
"So how close are we Izzy?" Joe asked. He knew that the red haired computer expert was in the habit of keeping certain upsetting information from their leader, who was still having problems with self-control.   
"I actually don't know." Izzy shrugged uneasily. "I do estimate however that we are still quite far from our objective."   
"How far?" Mimi asked curiously.   
"Once again, I'm not sure. It will definitely take several days of travel, but we might also be talking about weeks or months. It is nearly impossible to tell without better methods, but I don't dare do anything that could give away our position."   
"Don't worry Mimi, I'm sure that we'll be able to do it." Palmon sounded exceedingly happy about the whole situation.   
"It's not that. I just was curious as to how long we'll have to travel."   
"As long as it takes Mimi." Joe laid one hand on her shoulder gently. "As long as it takes." He ignored Gomamon's curious look.   
"Hey Joe?" the marine Digimon spoke up after a few moments.   
"What is it buddy?"   
"You've changed a lot, haven't you. I mean you're a lot more confident now, right?"   
"I guess so Gomamon. I guess so." Joe laughed unevenly.   
"Well, do you still do stupid things that I can make fun of, or do I have to find something else to make jokes about?"   
"What stupid things?" Joe stopped.   
"Oh, never mind…" Gomamon increased his speed, pulling slightly ahead of the group, temporarily ignoring the presence of the others.   
"What do you mean stupid things? Gomamon…you…get back here, I'm talking to you." Suddenly becoming aware of the variety of laughter that the others were providing as a backdrop to the whole affair, Joe sighed and hung his head. "I never win."   
"Heads up guys. Matt's found something." Izzy picked up his laptop with somewhat more enthusiasm this time. The others stopped laughing immediately and gathered around, keeping a nervous eye looking outward.   
"He says it's a Meramon, and it looks friendly. He and Gabumon should be able to handle it if anything goes wrong, but Tai's coming up around the flanks if anything should happen that he can't handle. We should probably close up too. Zudomon is our heavy artillery for now."   
"Right." Joe looked more confident, and he grabbed his D3 from his belt quickly. Gomamon started off, and the others quickly followed behind him. They moved quickly, weaving between cover and always keeping something between themselves and the direction that they were going, frequently crawling along on their hands and knees as they moved.   
"All clear." Matt's voice echoed cheerfully from up ahead, and they stood up to see the rock star waving cheerfully at them, his hair standing out in the midday sunlight. The light shining on him was positively dancing in his hair.   
The Meramon was standing there, fires roaring over his body, but otherwise he appeared to be a rather calm Digimon. Tai was already there, looking down at the Digimon from the top of a small hill with Agumon at his side. Off in the other direction a piece of brush rustled and Sora emerged into the light, blinking a little as she watched the unknown stand there. There was a temporary truce it seemed, as one champion stood there watching six humans and six rookies stare back.   
"It's all right guys." Matt exclaimed to them. "This guy wants to help us stop Daemon. He says that he's been hiding out in a house nearby, and he offered to take us there for the night. It's in the right direction, so why not?"   
Something annoying buzzed in Mimi's ear. But it was Sora who voiced her silent suspicions. "And how do we know that we can trust him?"   
Meramon shrugged at them. "It's up to you, but I have no reason to lie. Only a fool would follow that madman Daemon anywhere except to a barbecue. I have no truck with him, and he'll get short change out of me if he ever comes near me again. You might as well come this way. Word has it that you're headed off to Pinnacle, and if so, you're going to be headed in the right direction. Besides, I know a secret way to get there."   
That uncomfortable buzzing sound began again. Mimi shook her head to try and rid herself of the sound, but it steadfastly refused to go away.   
"Well, I believe him guys." Matt stated. Tai nodded, as did Sora. Joe shrugged and Izzy, ever attentive to his computer, was scanning the surroundings. Mimi just shrugged and tried to ignore her inner disquiet. 

Despite what Meramon had claimed about being nearby, the house was actually quite a ways away, fortunately in the right direction. As they walked along the feeling of irritation and buzzing refused to go away, but it faded to such an extent that Mimi could barely hear it, and, as a result, was only mildly phased by its insistence.   
"Anyway, here it is!" Meramon exclaimed.   
"Wow!" Tai exulted. "It's great!"   
It was indeed impressive. Instead of being open and exposed, it was actually built into what looked like an enormous tree, with a trunk and branches the size of an apartment building. It easily mounted the banks of windows and balconies that dotted its trunk like some odd swarm of insects that had assaulted the tree. Wind blew gently through the leaves, rustling them, and leaving it with a peaceful feeling, a well disguised structure in a patch of trees.   
"I like it." Biyomon exclaimed.   
Mimi still felt the buzzing sound, but she ignored it, preferring to dwell on how happy her companions were at this sudden benefit. They had been getting tired of sleeping outdoors again, especially after it had rained on them one night. Now, the prospect of a night in a house with beds, and the possibility of real food, was giving any other consideration the back burner.   
"Right this way." Meramon gestured grandly and two huge doors, crafted it seemed out of the tree itself creaked open slowly, responding to their presence. Beyond the doors they could see a brightly lit hall, illuminated by giant chandeliers attached to the ceiling, trailing decorative glass like a rain of diamonds. Crimson carpets decorated the floor and the sides of the walls were decorated with a gentle gleam that reminded Mimi of Mother-of-Pearl. "I know it looks grand, but most of it is fake anyway. The former owners wanted it to look nice, so they decorated it like this."   
"I'm still impressed." Palmon murmured under her breath.   
"Me too." Sora was staring at the depth of the carpet, which seemed soft enough that they might accidentally lose Gomamon in it or something.   
"I find the decorations positively stimulating." Izzy ran one hand up and down one polished wall, resorting to extreme verbosity to express his approval. Tentomon looked like he would have rolled his eyes had it been possible, but refused to make a comment.   
"I'm glad you like it." Meramon smiled at them, although it was a little hard to see with all that flame. "Why don't I show you where the guest rooms are."   
"How do you know about us?" Mimi asked, still trying to get rid of that buzzing sound. No matter what she did it seemed determined to stay off at the edge of her perception, waiting for her to notice it. The presence of Meramon only seemed to encourage it.   
"You're quite famous here. You're the kids that beat the Dark Masters, and later helped defeat the powers of MaloMyotismon. When Daemon revealed that he was looking out for a group of kids and Digimon working together, I knew that you guys were the only ones who it could be. Then word came down through some of the other Digimon in the forest that the Digidestined were in my area. Naturally I came out to take a look and see what was happening."   
"I didn't know we were that famous." Tai commented.   
"Oh, you better believe it. None of us had ever seen anything like that before. You did wonders."   
"Yeah, we are kinda great, aren't we." Agumon definitely looked pleased with himself.   
"Oh please." Murmured Biyomon, trying to look away from the small lizard.   
"Here we go again." Gabumon sighed.   
"I guess we are sorta cool." Matt remarked, examining a picture of a tree on one wall, both hands in his pockets in the posture that Tai had been calling the 'cool rock-star posture'.   
"Matt…" Sora protested.   
Meramon went on smiling and directed them down a hallway to a set of oaken doors with gold inlay Each door led to a separate room, each laid out in much the same way. Although outshone by the decorations in the grand hall, the simple wood and quilt type decorations of each individual room were welcoming, a great help to those who had spent too much time sleeping out in the open under the stars. Mounted with heaps of soft, fluffy blankets the beds looked especially welcome and inviting to the traveling heroes.   
"You can feel free to choose your own rooms. There are bathrooms at each end of the hall. I'm honored to have you here, but nobody else really lives here except for a few Veggiemon, and they're too shy to come out and see us, so you should be undisturbed. I'll go see if I can get us some dinner, and we'll ring the bell downstairs when it's ready."   
"Girl's get the bathroom at that end." Sora called, pointing at the south end of the hall.   
"Fine with us." Matt commented, turning around. "I hope they have plenty of hot water here, because I need a bath like none other."   
"Amen." Tai muttered, his face suddenly turning completely innocent as Matt directed a scathing glare his way.   
"Maybe we should wait a little." Joe suggested, as the boys walked off toward their end. Izzy nodded mutely, recognizing that Tai and Matt's continuing exchange of looks would only lead to a large quantity of water being splashed around later.   
Fortunately whoever had designed the bathrooms had anticipated the need of tired travelers to soak themselves nearly into oblivion. There was a wonderful hot tub in the girl's end that looked more like a swimming pool than any indoor tub feature that Mimi had ever seen. Steam curled from the water in one end, and at the other it was brisk and cool, ready to plunge any unwary bather back into instant alertness. Fluffy towels dotted both ends of the room, which was covered in cream-colored tile, glowing invitingly. It took about two hours for the four of them to soak themselves free of the bruises and battering of their quest, and to assure themselves that they were truly clean, indulging in the massage of gently moving hot water.   
Mimi was almost fully dressed again when she noticed that the buzzing had temporarily disappeared, and that the normal sounds of the background had returned. Cheerfully, she put the rest of her clothes on, clothes that they had just painstakingly cleaned and dried in the hot atmosphere of the bath area. Sora made a noise of contentment, one that was quickly echoed by the two Digimon, before she leaned back against the wall, still basking in the heated air blowing off the pool.   
"Hey Sora…" Mimi asked tentatively.   
"Yeah Mimi. What's on your mind?"   
"Well, I was just wondering. Am I better traveling companion than I was the first time here? I mean, well…you remember how I was."   
Sora turned over and gave Mimi the smile that demonstrated the reason TK and Kari both thought of her as their second mother. "I remember like it was yesterday. But you grew out of it, didn't you? I'm sure that I became a better traveling companion too as time went by. And you're really much better than you used to be."   
"Oh, thanks. I was just wondering because it still seems like I end up with the least work and try to avoid the most stuff."   
"You're easygoing Mimi." Palmon sounded like she was one step away from asleep. A quite small step.   
"Yeah, it's just the way you are, and the other guys respect that. Everyone knows that you'll do your part when the crunch is on. Don't worry about it, it's just part of growing up, you start feeling uncertain." Sora closed her eyes again.   
"I wish I were like you Sora. You're always so confident." Mimi traced patterns of her unconscious' devising in the surface of the ceiling.   
Sora snickered. "You obviously have no idea. You should try the view from in here, it looks a lot worse than anything you imagine."   
Mimi just sighed. 

The six humans and their six companions managed to get inside the dining hall before the buzzing began again. If it was not for the huge table of a dark polished wood lurking in the middle of the room, dominating the room by the sheer virtue of being out of place, the room would be indistinguishable from the main hall. Everyone was feeling greatly refreshed and looked clean, except for some out of place hair and slightly wet clothing on the behalf of Matt and Tai, who were still exchanging rather significant glances. Joe and Izzy kept rolling their eyes whenever that happened, but they were all ready to get on with whatever was happening. When the deep-toned bell had rung out, echoing over the building, all twelve of them had boiled out of their respective areas, stomachs grumbling uncomfortably, ready to go feed themselves.   
Meramon nodded to them as they came in, motioning to the magnificent spread of food laid out on the table. Mimi sat down with the others, but almost immediately the buzzing became so insistent that she knew something was wrong. As the others set to, she looked up at their host, and noticed another detail about the room that had somehow escaped her before.   
"What are those?" Mimi pointed with one hand curiously.   
Meramon turned and an unrecognizable expression flitted across his face. "I truly don't know. I expect that those were the former owners of this house. I found this building abandoned some years ago." Jerking with his chin, he gestured towards the two gray monuments in the corner. Any sculptor alive would have been proud to have had the talent to sculpt those three figures, a Leomon, an Ogremon and a Centarumon, each a perfect portrait of their true-life models. Yet, those selfsame sculptors would also doubtlessly scratch their heads in wonder at why such a talented artist had chosen to do the entire affair in gray stone instead of in some more majestic medium. Nevertheless, the talent that had gone into the art was astonishing for its attention to detail and level of completeness. Mimi could feel though that the peculiar buzzing sound seemed to originate from around that area.   
"Are you all right Mimi? You're not eating." Palmon looked concerned.   
"I don't know…I feel…"this time the buzzing faded to be replaced by a wave of subtle wrongness that struck her like a wave at the beach. She stood up unsteadily, feeling the emotional roller coaster that was raging in her head reach down into her inner ear and send her balance sprawling. "I think that I better go lay down." She staggered off towards the room that she had mentally marked as hers while the others watched her go in open shock.   
By the time she got to the room, the sense had faded, but something else was beginning to settle in. She knew that something was wrong, but she had no idea what it was, and no idea what it really meant, and that made her confused. Even though she could feel it in her bones, her bones refused to impart to her any information that would allow her to take any action. All she had were her feelings, nothing that would stand up to determined examination, nothing that could set her fears to rest either. Truth be told, she really did not have the faintest idea what she was afraid of other than the usual premonitions of vague disaster.   
But the others saw this place as a kind of heaven. After all, they needed some kind of rest in the middle of their quest, did they not? It was all very well to go slogging through the mud and the cold until your legs are half covered with dirt and goo, and the only way that you can clean them results in your lower extremities starting to freeze off, as long as you have no other choice. Rising in the morning and realizing that you had been sleeping on a tree root, and had a bend in your back the size of a bowling ball was acceptable if that was all you could do. But, when presented with habitation that was more civilized in nature, was it possible for them to stand aside and let it pass on a feeling? Mimi was certain that there was no way that she could get them to leave in any way, shape or form, not without something more concrete. After all, she only had her feelings, and they had been wrong so many times before that she could not truly count them.   
The sudden realization that the others would act to dismiss, to declare irrelevant all of that which was troubling her heart, that they would go so far as to actively ignore her and pass judgment upon her that would be completely unflattering, struck at her heavily. After all, she was traditionally the one who was the flightiest in the group, and it would be the easiest to dismiss her deepest fears as unfounded flights of fancy. Her heart contracted and expanded like a series of explosions as the realization that she might be considered nothing more than an empty-headed piece of fluff entered her mind and struck right at the center of her being.   
There was a knock on the door.   
"Mimi, it's Joe. Are you all right?" Calm and familiar, the voice floating through the door cut through the heart of her depression and into the center of the mind that still belonged to her.   
"Sure. I'm fine." Mimi quickly used her sleeve to dash the tears from her eyes, shaking them angrily on the floor.   
"Can I come in?" he asked, ever the gentleman.   
"Of course."   
Joe entered calmly, professionally, every movement correct and friendly, although somehow a little distant. His time volunteering at the local hospital had indeed changed him in many ways, one of them being the way he approached what could be called business situations. Palmon came along too, and she was definitely upset at the fact that her partner had taken off in the middle of dinner.   
"So how are you feeling?" Joe asked, checking her face carefully and calmly, giving her a reassuring smile.   
"I'm fine Joe. You don't have to worry. It was nothing like that. Really. I think it was all inside my head." The way in which the tears must have reflected in her eyes must have registered on Joe because he narrowed his eyes.   
"I see. One of those. You want to talk?" It was an offer, but it was, in a sense, an offer that refused to be ignored. One way or another, Mimi knew that she needed to get this off her chest, and Joe was giving her a perfect opportunity to do so quietly. In a way, she was embaressed, but she was also profoundly relieved at the opportunity with which she had been presented, a way to get things off her chest.   
"Joe, it's just that...sob>...you're not going to believe me either, are you?" her tears returned with a vengence in a peculiar attempt to override her remaining sanity. Joe just wordlessly handed her a small towel that he must have been keeping around for emergencies, waiting for her to compose herself. With another sniff, she carefully drew herself back together, glued the shattered box of her ego back into one piece, and turned to her waiting companion.   
"All right. I know this place seems so good and all, but I really think that there's something wrong here. Something really wrong, and I don't just mean stuff like the rooms aren't right. I mean that something is seriously wrong, and that I can't tell what it is at all." Mimi could still feel the buzzing sound in the background interfering with her thinking.   
"How do you know Mimi?" Joe asked rather seriously. He pushed his glasses up higher on his nose to clear his thoughts and to give her his full attention. Telling what Joe was thinking was a little like reading a book, a fact that reassured Mimi extraordinarily. Although she had occasionally accused Joe of being somewhat stuffy and uncomplicated, his ability to be fairly serious was a remarkable help in this particular situation. Already she felt the effects of his seriousness moving to touch her inner feelings, reassuring her and helping her regain some of the confidence that she had just lost during her bout of self-doubt.   
"Well, I've had this buzzing sound in my ears ever since I got here. I thought it meant that something wasn't right, but now I'm almost positive that something is really dreadfully wrong. I just can't figure out what it is, and nobody else is going to believe me."   
"That's not true Mimi. We always believe you."   
"That's right." Palmon was clearly perturbed by the entire situation, but appeared to be determined not to show that.   
"But nobody is going to give this up for something as simple as a little feeling. Are they?"   
Joe thought for a minute before responding, his eyes focusing somewhere above the top edge of his glasses in a maneuver that warned everyone who knew him that he was strongly considering something. After a moment he spoke in a serious, but absent minded tone of voice that informed the listener that he had been considering something fairly important. "I don't know if this is just a little feeling. If we have been carrying our crests around inside us all of this time, sort of dormant, than this could be something that the crest is trying to tell you. If this is true, well, you know what that means. The crests only act when we're really in danger."   
"You think this could be my crest Joe? You are the expert." Mimi looked over at him. "I guess if your crest can glow, all of our crests can glow again."   
"Yes. I've been talking to Izzy about that. I think that all our crests can glow again, and that means that they may start to lend us some things not unlike extra-sensory perception. It would be really neat. So, where is the buzzing coming from?"   
"All around, but especially..." Mimi trailed off in surprise as she realized what she had been overlooking all that time. "Especially from within me. I'm creating the buzzing that I'm hearing."   
"Any clue where?"   
Mimi began to pat herself all over in an attempt to discover if there truly was an origin of the noise or if she was just imagining things. As she did so, she noticed a few certain patterns, and that her hand seemed naturally drawn to her chest, just below her neck. One hand rose to that spot and closed around the hard golden gleam of the necklace she had gotten from Cortell the day they had arrived here. "It's this Joe. It's the necklace that's making all the noise."   
Joe sat bolt upright. "But the necklace, didn't Cortell say it was magic or something?"   
"That's what he said all right." Palmon did not look too happy about this change in events either. Her blossom was standing a little more upright than usual, something that was sure to be interpreted as a bad sign.   
"But if that's the case, it's really trying to help me..." Mimi trailed off hopelessly.   
"And that means..." Joe joined her.   
They both stared at each other in a look of mingled horror. Then, as one, they bolted for the door, heading down the stairs. 

"It appears the trap will have to sprung early master." The shadowy figure bowed frequently to Daemon, who stood straight and tall on his floating dais of bone-like metal, in the middle of a column of darkness. One solitary shaft of light illuminated the room, shining down on the shadow to increase its discomfort.   
"I see. Well, we shall get them eventually I suppose. They are very little bother now in the grand scheme of things." Daemon had his attention focused elsewhere, and he motioned with a dismissing gesture to his servant, who quickly scurried away. Daemon remained utterly fixated on the other being that hung in the shadows, a representation of his master, a shadowy presence in the distance.   
"My Lord Khartan, we shall get them given time. And mostly I will be able to keep them off balance." Daemon bowed his head briefly.   
"I hope so, for your sake. I do not need their interference while my plan progresses, do you understand?" The dark figure, one of the few who was above the powers of the Dark Ocean stared down at his apprentice with terrifying force. Daemon was forced to nod his assent to this. "Good, my little pet, good."   
"As you wish Master." Daemon watched with some relief as Khartan turned back to other pursuits. 

Joe and Mimi darted into the dining room, just in time to see a dozen or so RedVeggiemon dart down one of the hallways in pursuit of something neither of them could see. This left the room empty, only the half-eaten food on the tables stood as mute evidence that somebody had been there at one point.   
"We've got a problem now." Joe noted clinically, darting out after the others. "Without me there, we don't have a single Ultimate."   
"I can Digivolve now if you need me Mimi." Palmon tugged on Mimi's dress.   
"Go for it. We've got to get Joe to Gomamon."   
"Palmon....digivolves to....Togemon!"   
"Oh boy." Togemon was not paying them much attention, watching over their shoulder down a narrow corridor in another direction. "I think I hear something."   
The group that bubbled out of that corridor was even larger than the group that had just vanished down the second corridor, and this time, instead of bringing only a horde of scrambling RedVeggiemon, there were other Digimon mixed in with this.   
"So Joe, what's the plan?" Mimi asked as the second group caught sight of them.   
Joe pointed in another direction. "Run like crazy!" 

"Nova Blast!"   
The spherical ball of fire blew a hole through one end of the room, venting the room to the open air, and allowing four kids, four Champions and a rookie to dart through the opening, leaving their pursuers behind in a cloud of smoke.   
"So much for hospitality. Mom was right, people these days don't know how to be polite." Tai gasped and looked around. "Now what?"   
They were standing in the middle of a courtyard, more like an open air garden, that was encased between two huge branches. All around them were the carved walls of the crazy house that they were stuck in, windows looking at them with unfriendly eyes, masked by the smoke that was drifting in behind them. Once their concealing shield, the smoke now prevented them from seeing what was behind.   
"Well, Tai? You're the leader." Matt noted, trying to peer through the thickening grayness.   
"Uh…I…I mean…" Tai stammered.   
"Guys, there's got to be another door here, right? So let's just run, okay?" Sora took off in one direction. Like a flock of sheep everyone else followed her until they almost ran into another wall, and found a huge door.   
"Back to the chase." Matt commented.   
"Well, we could buy ourselves some time." Izzy suggested, tugging the door open. "If memory serves, RedVeggiemon are extremely weak and unable to withstand more than a mere handful of hits. Our Champions can cause some extreme damage to them on the way, enough to make them a little more cautious. All you guys, when they start to appear out of the smoke, start hitting them. Create more smoke and panic if you can to confuse them. Then, you guys can dedigivolve into rookies and we can slip away."   
"That sounds like a plan Izzy." Tai stood up and pointed. "Let's go get them guys."   
As the smoke began to thin a group of what looked like bouncing red balls bounded out of the gray haze and into the central courtyard, accompanied by the usual clamors of the chase, such as "Where did they go?" and "Which way?" and "What do we do now?". From where the other children stood the confusion was almost palatable, an expression of the bafflement they had been skilled enough to leave in their wake as they made their way through the courtyard. Unfortunately for their pursuers, Tai chose that moment as the moment to introduce them to the variety of skills at their disposal.   
"Now guys!"   
"Nova Blast!"   
"Howling Blaster!"   
"Electro Shocker!"   
"Meteor Wing!"   
"Marching Fishes!"   
What sped across the courtyard could probably not be adequately described without seventeen different colors of paint and a large bucket of water. Lines of fire and electricity twisted and mixed as they burned their way across the intervening space, dancing with each other to form odd new shapes and patterns as they moved forward, constantly changing, but still proceeding in the same direction. In terms of explosive force however, it would be simple to describe the reaction with two different tanker trucks full of gasoline at high speed. There was a moment of panic among the opposition, and then the RedVeggiemon abandoned the area quickly, several of them doing so at increased velocity and altitude, much to their dismay. This time the air was filled, not only with smoke, but with pieces of debris in a large cloud.   
Nobody noticed a group of small figures sneaking through a number of rooms on their way out. 

"Let's try a right here." Joe and Mimi bumped along, held tightly inbetween Togemon's two fists. They tried gallantly not to lose their lunch in the high speed chase through the building.   
"Got it." Togemon threw on a new burst of speed as she dashed around the corner, hoping that their pursuers would not be able to follow them. As she went by she kicked the wall, raising a shower of plaster that impeded their pursuers just a little. Togemon had left the RedVeggiemon far behind her, but just looking back Joe could watch the five Monochromon that had followed them gaining speed, thundering along like the herdbeasts they were.   
"Uh-oh." Mimi, looking forward, had observed a new problem. Ahead of them, instead of another hallway, was the dining room, table still in disarray. And there, standing in the middle of the room, was Meramon, looking as if he was waiting for them.   
"You're a naughty girl Mimi." The fiery Digimon pointed a burning red finger at the girl, shaking it slowly to gain their attention. "Had you not aroused such suspicions within yourself over the nature of our little trap here, you would not be in such an awkward predicament. We would have long ago captured you all together and confined you to one of our specialty dungeons. Ah well, the chase is part of the fun you know, that's the way things work around here."   
"Shove it pal." Togemon dropped Mimi and Joe in an unceremonious heap and then commenced spinning around at a tremendous angular velocity, throwing needles in all directions in a continuous barrage. Behind them the Monochromon stopped tentatively, and the Meramon winced back from multiple hits.   
"So is that how you like to play, eh? So be it...Meramon....Dark Digivolve to...SkullMeramon!" Metal mask and dark clothing now accentuated a body of blue flame. The newly minted Ultimate pointed at them and laughed. "Now, to deliver you to Lord Daemon intact, sort of."   
"Needle Spray!" Togemon cut lose with a heavy barrage at point blank range.   
"Just don't get to close. He'll burn you for sure!" Mimi was concerned for her friend's safety, a concern that appeared well founded as SkullMeramon unleashed a blast of blue fire that sent everyone spinning. Floorboards fountained into the air and Togemon went sailing backward as the explosion roared into their ears. Even the Monochromon were tossed in the wrong direction.   
"Now, get them!" SkullMeramon gestured, and in the distance, Mimi could pick up the faint sounds of the RedVeggiemon catching up with them, the huffing and grunting that meant that they were almost completely surrounded. "Make sure that we get them alive, but maybe not intact. Too intact that is."   
Mimi rolled away from the continuing combat and found herself lying on the stone feet of the Leomon statue. Waves of wrongness poured off it like rain after a summer shower, pouring down the stone carvings in a continuing torrent. Quickly she placed one hand on the statue and realized that it felt cold, almost like ice, but it seemed as if it held something warm inside, something merely waiting for the cold to lift before flowering back into life.   
Holding out both hands she placed them carefully on the base of the statue, and reached deep inside of her, a place she had rarely gone. Inside her swirled her spoiled tastes, her inability to treat any subject with seriousness, and her tendency to think only of herself. Inside of her the tantrums she had thrown over the years, the distractions she had provided when total concentration was needed, all those traits which she had come to realize were her worst problems in trying to be a serious hero were waiting for her. Her own fears and doubts tried to mob her. And the facade that she had built when she realized that she had no way of possibly controlling herself against the powers that she was now required to face cracked and collapsed. All those selfish moments tried to drown her in their memory, all of those times when she had purposefully drawn attention to herself when others had probably needed it more, the exasperated expressions of her teammates, the disappointed faces of her friends came back to haunt her in one crashing moment.   
Years ago, even a few months ago, that probably would have been enough to bury her alive, but now she was a changed person. Even living in the Digital World, in the midst of such danger for a few short days had changed her tremendously, so far that she would hardly be recognizable to the girls at school if they saw her now. Her muscles had remembered things that she had been certain they had forgotten, but more importantly, her mind had recovered as well, and now was functioning as a member of the single, cohesive team that she had helped to build over half a year of constant struggle. Inside her, new powers raged, and she was able to ignore the doubts that assailed her with only a minimum of effort. Grabbing out with two hands as insubstantial as the wind, yet as strong as a tornado, she grabbed onto the core of her being, the piece of purity and truth that she had carried along all those years inside of her, and let it flower into being.   
"No, not that!" SkullMeramon yelled in the background, but his voice was now faint and indistinct.   
Something flamed in her chest, but, more important, something flamed in front of her. All three statues, the Leomon, the Ogremon and the Centarumon, representative of the three different classes of Digimon, began to shake. Cracks ran up their cold, gray surface, reaching for their heads, but these were shallow cracks, as if only the surface was being damaged. Beneath those cracks something was glowing bright green, the color of new spring growth, and the color of the light that was glowing in the center of her chest. Slowly it seemed, those cracks spread and grew, lighting up the room as they expanded. Time seemed to tick by like molasses, and even though Mimi knew that there had only been scant seconds since the beginning of the movement, it felt like years had passed. There was a shaking moment and then the gray stone exploded as if it had been detonated from within, and there, standing like they had looked a moment before, were a Leomon, an Ogremon and a Centarumon.   
"Round Two!" the Ogremon charged, Centarumon following on his heels as they rushed SkullMeramon. But the Leomon up, reaching down to Mimi and steadying her with one huge paw, a gentle and puzzled smile on his face.   
"Mimi, is that you? Are you all right?"   
"Leomon?" The name was both a question and a reminder of loyalty and friendship, an echo of bonds forged before in the fires of conflict. It was a bell ringing in the night to celebrate the return of a friend from the great beyond.   
"Later Mimi, we'll have some catching up to. For now, I think it's time that we gave SkullMeramon a piece of our minds."   
"I think I can help too. Togemon!"   
"Right here." The giant cactus staggered out of the destruction in one corner of the room, but Mimi was already moving, drawing her new power back into her and down her hand into the device that she thrust at her friend.   
"Togemon....digivolves to....Lilymon! Oh that feels much better!"   
"All right." Joe was walking a little wobbly as he moved out of the rubble he had managed to extract himself from. "Way to go Mimi!" he gave her a heartening smile that warmed her down to her toes.   
"I'll take care of that overgrown bonfire. The rest of you cover those other guys. Flower Cannon!" Somewhere in the background SkullMeramon screamed as fire exploded into him, the kind of fire that burned him with a pain that he could not ignore. Two Ultimates were clashing, and that set the whole building shaking.   
"Mind if we join in?" Tai jumped out of a hole that had appeared unexpectedly in the side of the room. Behind him the wall crumbled as four more Champions forced their way in, along with a still un-digivolved Gomamon, a situation which changed abruptly as the light of Joe's D3 and reignited crest speared the marine mammal.   
"Gomamon...digivolves to....Ikkakumon!"   
"Ikkakumon...digivolves to....Zudomon!"   
The huge marine warrior loomed against the background, the top spikes of his shell poking holes in the roof above them as he stomped forward into battle. He used his hammer as a weapon, not like one would use a sword, all cutting strokes and sudden movements, but rather like he was nailing together a few boards, hammer rising and falling methodically.   
"Time to clean this place up Zudomon. Flower Cannon!" SkullMeramon stood for a moment, staring at them, before the ball of white fire crashed into his center, and swelled there, struggling against his internal fires.   
"Pummel Whack! Solar Ray! Fist of the Beast King!" RedVeggiemon and Monochromon went flying as the three immensely powerful warriors went to work, hammering their way through the press of their foes like giant battering rams. Faced with such a powerful and concentrated foe, the other enemy Digimon turned and fled in horror.   
SkullMeramon had time for one final scream before he disintegrated with a blast of fire. 

"Anyway, I was having a good time out in the woods terrorizing the populace when that old guy came by to talk to me." Ogremon actually looked embarrassed at being a good guy again.   
"Gennai came to all of us and told us that there was a great evil gathering in this area of the Digital World. At that time the Digimon Emperor had first gathered his forces and was conquering the Digital World slowly but surely." Centarumon stared down at them with his single glowing eye.   
"But Gennai informed us that new Digidestined were being recruited, ones who could handle this problem without running into the same barriers that we would. He told us that they could defend that part of the world, but that this new evil would need powerful and determined warriors to hold it at bay while other reinforcements could be brought up to deal with it." Leomon stared down at them from his imposing height. "We were nervous about leaving our homes in the Digital World in the hands of the Emperor, but once we understood the stakes of the conflict, we had no choice but to agree. So many of us, the most powerful of Digimon that served good faithfully and unswervingly left the eastern region of the Digital World and came here, a place where the Digimon Emperor never penetrated."   
"No wonder we never found you. I wondered about that." Izzy tucked his chin on his hand in his 'thinking' posture. "I was curious about why we used to know so many Digimon here, but when we tried to find you, we didn't have the faintest clue where you were. It explains many things."   
"I'm glad you understand." Centarumon looked at the bearer of the Crest of Knowledge compassionately.   
"Well, you might have looked harder." Ogremon grumped. Mimi, still basking in the light that her crest had produced elbowed him to remind him to be civil. He growled at her, but it was a sound edged in fondness.   
"Here, we have been fighting the evil for some time. However, it was only recently that Daemon appeared. That house was once our hidden base, but SkullMeramon was able to infiltrate it, and with the help of Daemon he imprisoned us all within its boundaries. That you freed us was incredibly fortunate."   
"Not to mention lucky for us." Tai muttered.   
"Now." Leomon stood up from where he had been sitting, stretching his massive arms toward the sky. "It is now time to move on my friends. We have information and skills that will let you defeat that creature of darkness, and to launch a successful attack upon the Pinnacle. But first we need to return home and rest and relax before launching our next attack. And you should probably meet the others."   
"Who are the others?" Izzy asked.   
"You'll see." Leomon smiled at them and then led them off into the forests and toward their destiny.   


Interlude-Blueaxe   
Author's Note: I'm afraid that the interludes only serve to hint at things that may become important later in the story. They are not essential to the plot, and need not be read. 

Of all those systems developed to fight the great wars between Darkness and Light, the system of cut and paste is perhaps the best known and the easiest to use. Cut-and-paste is perhaps the oldest programming trick of them all, take a portion of someone else's code that does what you need and install it in your own program, modifying it to fit your own needs. For those who design weapons it is often difficult to create weapons that can survive combat in the Interconnected Worlds, a place where the laws of physics change often. Only the very powerful and the very simple seem to be able to survive.   
But Digimon can fight in all worlds, and a Digimon is essentially a computer program body with an infinitely complex soul and a built in weapons system. A skilled programmer can, by simple process of modification, take the code in a Digimon that powers their own special attack and copy it. Then, it is a simple matter to graft that weapons system into the object awaiting it, and there you have it, a perfectly functional multi-purpose weapon system. It lacks the versatility and the change in power that a Digimon can give it, but it is easier to control and much easier to manufacture. Due to its ease of production and the large variety of weapons available, it is no wonder that cut-and-paste is now the most common weapon system of them all.   
The Iron Duke carried two special weapons under her wings, the so-called "Sacrificial Sheep", two large blocks of floating stone that masked an internal power core, rather like a charged battery, and a huge number of grafted weapons systems. As the Dreadnought's internal systems re-stabilized, and her momentum carried her out of the assault zone, internal triggers built into the semi-independent systems triggered. Power began to shunt through specially constructed power regulators and channels, creating the energy necessary for the outside to transform.   
Citadel had worked tirelessly to create that particular system, and they had succeeded mostly due to the efforts of their inspired engineers. MetalGarurumon's Ice Wolf Spikes attack had been copied and processed to the utmost, each element analyzed and painstakingly reproduced. Normally the attack produced a swarm of independently guided missiles that not only damaged whatever they hit, but also froze anything wherever they exploded. If focused properly the warheads could create ice, turning a patch of air into a wall of frozen water. That was the property the engineers had needed and they had done dozens of field tests to make sure that they had recaptured it correctly when they began to make modifications to the warhead yield and dispersion pattern.   
By itself, a dose of the Ice Wolf Spikes could give any Mega a serious movement problem, but the planners, especially Justice and Gennai, had come up with a semi-ingenious plan. Each of the Sheep carried a hundred recreations of that attack, an expenditure that soaked up energy like a sponge. Raw power had been wasted by the bucketful in order to create each independent Sheep, and now the results flung themselves outward. The defenders gasped as thousands of missiles tore away from those stations, not enough to destroy the heavily armored fortifications, such as they were, or long-ranged enough to hit the mobile units backing up the defenses, but enough to spell instant death to anyone caught outside. But the missiles did not seek out the Dark's soldiers, instead exploding in a cacophony of blue light around the transit point, a flowering of brilliant color and blasts of frigid air that took everyone there by complete surprise. And then, as the air cleared, the defenders stared in awe.   
There, surrounding the transit point, was a dome of ice, kilometers large, and thick enough to put a crimp in any bombardment. Continued explosions from inside indicated that they were still reinforcing the barrier from the inside, probably with missiles from more emerging ships. Gunners found their targets obscured, their firepower diminished as they wasted energy fruitlessly trying to burn through meters of ice. Eventually the gunners recovered from their shock and concentrated enough firepower on the dome to collapse it into shards of crystal, raining down on the ground.   
And there, standing exposed now, ten Dreadnoughts in perfect formation roared down on their hasty fortifications like the wind of death.   
  
  
  



	9. A Friend in Need

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Got that?   
Author's Note: Ah yes, yet another installment into the series. Apologies that it took so long, but I'm using a new computer now to post things. Thanks to all of those who have read enough of this to actually review, and I'm sorry that it's taking so long to get new chapters out.   
If you think that this story should be improved feel free to email me and give me your opinions. I need all the constructive criticism I can get.   
Enjoy! 

** Episode IX**   
** A Friend in Need**   


"Leadership is making a plan and pretending it works. Good leadership is pretending to have a plan and making it work. "   
_Cortell to Gennai_   
_ Tristan Offensive, Day 14, Before the Battle of Orshaven_

"Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy."   
_- H. Norman Schwarzkopf_

"So now what?" TK asked Davis as they sat one the cold ground. The grass beneath them was wet, something that was hard to ignore for the perspective heroes, and something that was beginning to get on TK's nerves. All around them, exhausted Digimon slumped down, trying to get some rest as the day moved by around them.   
"Well, they look pretty worn out to me." Davis commented, looking around. "And I don't think we're about to get attacked, right Ken?"   
Ken gazed upwards at the area they had secluded themselves in. Everywhere he looked they were walled in by high, steep hills covered in low shrub that made the small valley virtually invisible from the outside, and hard to see in to even if you did know it was there. In the middle there was a small babbling brook, water that twinkled in the sun as it ran over small, now polished, rocks before disappearing into the thickets at the far end, but there was little else there. "I think we're safe here Davis. It seems that nobody is going to find us any time soon."   
"Well then, I vote we should stay here!" Davis volunteered.   
"I guess there's no harm in it." Kari looked up at the sky, carefully counting the white puffy clouds visible there. "Nobody seems to be threatening us at the moment, and we do need some time to freshen up."   
"And the Digimon look exhausted. We have been working them pretty hard." Yolei looked around.   
"I agree." Cody responded.   
"Then it's settled, we stay here for now." Davis, sounding cheered at this prospect "We stay here."   
"So now what do we do?" Ken asked.   
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to sleep." Davis leaned back in his pile of soft branches and closed his eyes.   
"I think I'll follow lazyboy's idea and get some shut-eye myself." Yolei smiled as Davis snorted in indignation in his "sleep" but went over to where she had slept the previous night. Quickly she seemed to fall into a slumber.   
"I better work on my Kendo forms. I don't want to get out of practice." Cody picked up his sword from where he had placed it, and walked a ways away to begin to warm up. Ken followed him, looking interested.   
Kari and TK drifted in their general direction, feeling restless and too awake to go back to bed, but too tired to provide their own entertainment. They were almost there when there was a sudden thud and TK felt a familiar weight settle on top of his head, sinking onto his hair.   
"I thought you were asleep Patamon." TK noted.   
"I'm not as tired as the others are you know. I feel just fine."   
"Me too." Gatomon jumped up onto Kari's shoulder.   
"So, what's up guys?" TK asked, reaching up to scratch Patamon.   
"Well, when I was Angemon he relayed some instructions to me." Patamon told him quite seriously.   
TK stopped and glanced up, finding Patamon tilting down to look into his eyes. "Instructions, huh? Instructions about what?"   
"Well, remember all that stuff about that Asrana'Dactal?"   
"Yeah, you were telling us that it would work against somebody like Khartan or Reaver if they tried playing around with our doubts and fears, right?" TK remembered the conversation held in the tunnels under the ruined city vaguely.   
"Well, remember how I said that I couldn't remember how to do it, and neither could Gatomon? Well, when I was Angemon he relayed a series of different instructions into my head that tell me where to start with you guys. He's really quite good at this, but his instructions make very little sense to me. Do you want to go through them anyway?"   
Kari and TK exchanged a brief look that clearly illustrated their lack of anything else to do, and then shrugged and nodded at the same time.   
"Good, you'll probably need this. Anyway, this is how we start…" 

By noon, TK felt like he had been run over by a truck. None of his muscles really hurt, but there was an undeniable truck mentality to what had just hit him. Every exercise that Angemon had relayed through Patamon was a mental exercise of sorts, an attempt to use the mind to its utmost. In the end it left his mind aching in ways he had not known that it could ache, like a stretching a muscle that had never been used before. Patamon had explained, at some length, that the entire purpose of beginning the Asrana'Dactal was to increase mental abilities, especially the perception and the concentration that were essential to combat, both on the physical and the mental planes. Long ears twitching, he had carefully explained the different ways in which they should increase those factors, and the incredible abilities of one who was well trained in both of those ancient disciplines. As they continued in the exercises Ken and Cody drifted over, sitting down next to them and trying to participate, straining their minds alongside them. After a while they all felt exhausted.   
When Davis and Yolei finally got back up, all four of them were lying down on the ground, TK and Kari being the worst off out of them. All of them were groaning or mumbling, and Patamon and Gatomon were looking around with the air of a teacher whose students have just done something right. Davis shook his head as he looked at the group he was supposed to be leading and then walked up to them.   
"C'mon guys, you going to sleep all day?"   
"That sounds good." Ken mumbled, trying to keep his voice down. "I have a herd of elephants in my head trying to tear it apart."   
"I have Matt's band and an oil drilling team in here trying to get my attention. I think they're dynamiting something in there too." TK rolled over again.   
Kari just moaned and Cody closed his eyes.   
"What happened you guys?" Davis asked.   
"We'll be all right in a few minutes Davis." Ken mumbled through the grass. "Just, don't ask."   
"All right." Davis and Veemon exchanged glances, and then they shrugged and went off wandering through the valley, exploring it. From time to time they would call out to each other as they found something exciting, but their voices were fairly distant. Yolei looked at them with a puzzled expression on her face, and then shrugged and went off to make something that resembled a meal on the remains of the fire.   
It took a while for Yolei and Davis to get back into a group sort of mood, and by that time, the other four were sitting up. There was still a lot of groaning going on, but it was not as bad as previously, and they were all feeling much better for it. They took a quick meal in relative silence, before the conversation started flowing again.   
"Veemon and I found a weird cave back there you know." Davis mumbled through a full mouth.   
Ken and Yolei exchanged a glance, as did TK and Kari. "Not another cave…"   
"I guess we should check it out." Cody suggested as they began to bury the remains of the fire, and clear up all remains so that nobody would ever know they had been there. These methods had been largely successful so far at keeping their trail obscure.   
"Do you hear something?" Patamon asked quietly, ears straining. His sudden change in demeanor frightened everyone into silence.   
"No. Do you?" TK responded.   
"I think so…be very quiet."   
After a moment they all heard it, steady crunches as someone unaccustomed to moving silently walked through the bushes above them. They all strained to hear who it was, but the footsteps provided no real clues. Then, a loud voice spoke out. "Lord Reaver, I haven't found them yet, but I believe that they're around here somewhere. If you would design to grace us with your presence, we should be able to root those brats out in short order."   
There was a pause of a few minutes, and then Ken turned to Davis with exaggerated casualness. "So where exactly was the entrance to the tunnels?"   


"Think we're safe?" Veemon asked, staring back the way we came.   
"Why is it underground this time? We keep getting driven against underground." TK muttered under his breath. "Running up mountains wasn't much fun either, but at least it wasn't as predictable."   
"It's better than staying out in the open." Davis muttered. There was a sudden splash in the darkness, and then an agonized shout. "Aw man, I got my goggles all wet."   
"Just let them dry." Cody suggested, sitting down to avoid running into anything, but standing up again just as quickly when he realized he was sitting on Armadillomon.   
"Not on my head, they make feel like I've been swimming. Wait, I'll stick them in this box here. It's got to be useful for something." There were sounds in the darkness as Davis fumbled for his box, opened it and shut it again.   
"Uh, guys, I don't mean to complain or anything…" Kari trailed off for a moment. "…but why don't we use our flashlights or something?"   
There was a moment of absolute silence, and then the sound of five hands and six other assorted limbs smacking into foreheads, followed by a collective groan. After that there was more fumbling around in the darkness, accompanied by much invisible embarrassment, and then TK and Yolei both located their flashlights and turned them on, bathing the group in sudden flashes of white light.   
"Sorry, I guess we weren't thinking." TK apologized, embarrassed, as he began to shine the flashlight around the darkened enclosure. It really was not a serious help, all they could see was stone, and all they could feel was air rushing past them. "Ken, you see anything on the scanner?"   
Ken had gotten a lot better at using the scanner recently, and he quickly activated the machine and did a quick preliminary scan around the area, looking for anything. After a long moment he shook his head as he took in the dancing lights on the screen in front of him. "I'm sorry guys, but I don't see anything of real importance. There are some other tunnels nearby, but I can't get enough resolution out of this thing to actually tell you where they are."   
"Any pattern in them?" Yolei asked, coming over.   
"Well, I suppose that there is a sort of pattern, take a look."   
Yolei peered over Ken's shoulder, trying to ignore the fact that it was Ken after all, and looked down at the diagram. Each tunnel seemed a little more straight than should have been natural, and they all seemed to be headed straight ahead. There was some little thing about this that was still bugging her, but she could not figure out what it was. Suddenly, the words popped back into her head. "Radial projections."   
"What?" Ken looked up at her, and then back down. "Of course, radial projections. Each tunnel is projected from some central location outward at regular intervals. They're moving too straight for that. So, if I take the two nearest tunnels and use their angular bearings to extrapolate their final destination…" he was typing faster now, moving a cursor over the screen rapidly. "There we go. All these tunnels should intersect in about three kilometers further down the shaft. It would have to be an artificial structure. Maybe they serve as ventilation shafts."   
"Yes, but ventilation shafts to what?" TK wondered.   
"I guess we go find out." Davis suggested. "If these are ventilation shafts they'll be straight in and straight out, won't they."   
"Yes." Ken nodded.   
"Well then, we either retreat back to the beginning, or we keep going." Davis pointed. "And since we know that we're in trouble if we go back out, we might as well see if we get in trouble when we keep going."   
"I guess so." Cody sounded reluctant.   
"Don't worry about it Cody. We can handle anything down here no problem." Armadillomon tried to reassure his worried human partner.   
TK and Kari glanced at each other and shrugged.   
"Well that's settled." Davis exclaimed. "Let's go."   
They set off in the darkness toward their waiting goal. 

"Okay, so why are we just sitting here?" Veemon asked plaintively into the darkness.   
"Because I don't like it." Cody insisted, staring ahead.   
"And neither do I." Ken muttered.   
Ahead of them was a huge cavern, what looked like another mining facility, looming large in their vision. To each side there were different tunnels leading off. In the middle, machinery sat abandoned and unheeded. The entire area was illuminated with the glowing orange of different spheres of light hanging from the walls around them.   
"It's too good to be true. An abandoned mining facility." Ken sighed and stared down at the ground again. All twelve of them were sitting on the ground behind a cluster of rocks where they could see the area ahead of them, but not visible from it. "The problem is that it may be a perfect place to hide an ambush. And the fact that the scanner is being jammed suggests just that."   
"Well, we could just go in and take care of whatever's in there." Davis suggested.   
"No. They've had too much time to prepare. If they discovered how we escaped up on the surface, we'll be easy targets down here, especially since they know how we're coming."   
"I guess." Davis muttered.   
"Well, we could handle it." Veemon sounded miffed.   
"Well, we aren't going to." TK snapped back. "I've got an idea. We Digivolve here, and then make tracks straight for one of those tunnels, right. If this really is a mining operation, they won't have blocked them all, in fact they'll be depending on us to be trapped by our surprise and our inability to fight back. If we go fast, we might be able to speed through them before they recover from their surprise. As they say, the surprise assault is like the heavens and earth, and as strong as the rivers and seas."   
"Huh? Who says that?" Kari and Yolei asked as one.   
"Actually," Ken replied, without looking at TK, "the exact quote is 'Thus the expert at delivering the surprise assault is as boundless as the heavens and earth, and as inexhaustible as the rivers and seas.'"   
"Really?" TK asked.   
This time Ken turned and smirked widely. "You aren't the only one to read Sun-Tzu."   
"So what does he say about all of this? Beside the obvious I mean." TK looked back.   
"Well, he does say that it is necessary to push on in dangerous ground." Ken considered for a moment before pointing. "Okay, not counting Angemon, we have four Champion Digimon, right? Out of those four, three can fly. That gives us quite an option. We split in three groups. I'll carry you TK, Yolei can carry Kari, and Davis can carry Cody. That means that we can fly right through that zone and head for the tunnels. We should probably split up too. Their big advantage is in the ambush, and if we can buy ourselves some breathing room, we can hook up again and teach them a lesson. But we can't do that unless they're distracted. We'll need that distraction."   
"You'll get it." Wormmon promised. "Are we ready?"   
"No sense in waiting." Yolei responded.   
"Shall we?" Veemon asked.   
"Let's." Hawkmon replied.   
D3s flared into sudden brightness. 

The first sign the dozen ambushers had that something was going wrong with their ambush was when it stopped being an ambush. Thanks to Reaver's explicit communication they knew exactly where the others were going to be emerging, and had taken great pains to seal that particular tunnel off. There were lines of fire covering that from all directions, and the ambushers included three of the giant Mammothmon, prepared to offer fire that would crush any opponent beneath them. However, the first action of the ambush was taken by the ambushees. Instead of coming out slowly and cautiously, there was a sudden flare of light from that direction and then, before anyone could figure out what had just happened, three streaks blasted out of that entrance down into the central clear area, skimming the ground. It was just too fast, and the three fliers were taking every advantage of the sudden confusion of their enemies, twisting and shifting around in an intricate web of patterns.   
Aquilamon, carrying a nervous Kari, a panicking Yolei and a tight lipped Gatomon, spun in a half-barrel roll, twisting up perpendicular to the ground, ripping along at a tremendous velocity. There was a sudden pause, and then the eagle Digimon yanked his tail up, altering trajectory with a sudden jolt that shook his passengers down to their cores. As the first shots began to land around them, he shot crosswise to their previous pattern, bisecting ExVeemon's trajectory and then disappearing rapidly down one of the tunnels. ExVeemon responded by rolling to the other side, Cody, Davis and Armadillomon clutched in his muscular arms, flipping upside-down and then zooming down yet another tunnel. Stingmon only wove up and down, making it hard for anyone to actually figure out what height he was going to be at, and then he too escaped, diving down yet another tunnel.   
"After them!" somebody shouted, but by then they were already gone. 

ExVeemon was being forced to choose too rapidly for his liking. He had never liked making split second decisions, but at the velocity he had obtained during his brief run across exposed ground, it seemed that split second was all that he was allowed to make. Immediately upon entering the tunnel, he realized that it split into two different directions, one heading up and one heading down. Choosing up, he managed to get another two soccer fields or so, before being presented with a three way choice, which he quickly took, going down the middle. Another straight looking corridor dived downward and into an intersection, making him choose another direction. He had barely gone right before realizing his mistake, that the tunnel ahead of him curved at a ninety degree angle right ahead, and that he was going to have to make a sharp turn, and that he was going way to fast, and that the wall ahead was dirt and stone and looked very hard.   
Oh, this was going to hurt… 

Veemon managed to open his eyes again after awhile. Davis, Armadillomon and Cody slowly swum into focus, standing over him and looking concerned. His head felt like a herd of elephants was in there somewhere, holding a trampling and trumpeting contest that was deafening all his other senses. Echoes of this contest were apparently appearing on his face, because the others began looking worried at his expression, bending closer.   
"Ow." Veemon managed. "What happened?"   
"You hit the wall man." Davis bent down even closer. "Head first too. You saved us from the impact, but you were out like a light. I'm just glad that you're okay. We were worried about moving you and stuff, but we had to get out of the way of other patrols. So we darted down that one corridor, and found a whole bunch of doors. Turns out they all lead to storage rooms, so here we are."   
Veemon turned his head a little to the side and immediately wished he had avoided this action, as it sent another herd of elephants trumpeting and thumping their way across his skull. He groaned again, which was probably also a mistake, but he did not wince, and he was able to observe the surroundings of the room he was in. It was sparsely accommodated, mostly sacks and crates of things that looked dusty, a sure sign that nobody had used them recently. Dim lighting was provided by another one of the light giving spheres hanging from the ceiling, providing faint illumination to the scene. He was reclining on a sack of something that must have been like peas, because it shifted under his weight as if it was made of several different parts. Everyone else had boxes to sit on.   
"You just rest up pal, and you'll feel as good as new in a few hours or so." Davis looked back at the others and shrugged.   
"So now what?" Cody asked.   
"Well, we aren't going out with Veemon looking like that. We've got to get him some rest before he's ready to fight, so we might as well hold tight here."   
"I'm sure the others will find us soon." Armadillomon looked around and scratched the ground with his claw. "After all, they're good at what they do as well."   
"I was going to suggest going out to look for them, but I guess we just can't do that now."   
"Are we safe here though?" Cody asked.   
"I don't know Cody."   
"Well, we better figure that out first, shouldn't we. It's no good being caught here, and if we're not safe, we'll just have to move again."   
"We can't move Veemon again. It's just not possible." Davis protested.   
"We'll have to." Cody insisted.   
"Aaugh!" Davis clutched at his head. "Will you stop being so difficult Cody? We'll be perfectly safe here. I'm sure of it."   
"How do you know?" Cody increased the volume of his request significantly. "Did you check or something?"   
"No, I didn't check, I just know. I'm sure of it."   
"Oh yeah, how?"   
"Will you stop doubting me Cody?"   
"Yeah, when you come up with a real response Davis."   
"Stop being such a coward Cody?" Davis shouted.   
"Coward? Why don't you try really leading us for a moment Davis? You're supposed to be the leader, but you…"   
"Guys?" Veemon muttered slowly, the act of speaking still painful. "could you keep it down out there?"   
Davis and Cody subsided for a moment and sat there, glaring at each other. Armadillomon sighed in frustration, and rolled his eyes at Veemon, who gave a small, tired grin.   
"Now it strikes me as odd," Armadillomon began, "that you two are so at odds with each other. I mean, figuring that you Davis are responsible for the safety of everyone in the group and that you Cody are supposed to be making sure that everyone is taking care to keep themselves safe, I think this is all just a bit ridiculous."   
Cody and Davis still refused to respond.   
"I mean," he continued, "that you all are being a bit silly. Now look, you're both here together, and though you may not get along with each other the best, you might as well think once in a while. And now is a good time to think."   
Cody and Davis stared at Armadillomon for awhile and then slowly, grudgingly stared at each other for a while before nodding. 

"So, anything from Sun-Tzu about this one?" TK asked, crouching behind the shelter of some containers of ore and peeking around to look onward.   
"Not noticeably, no." Ken replied. He was also hiding and clutching at Wormmon with one hand, trying not look overly worried at their situation. The four of them were hiding in what appeared to be the waste disposal area of a major mining center. They had snuck in through a back side shaft, but were no unable to figure out another way to go. Fortunately the entire area was filled with boxes and crates, allowing them to conceal themselves and their movements, and give them some measure of freedom. On the other hand, the area surrounding that was the home of a variety of other Digimon, mostly Nanimon and Gardromon, who were hauling large quantities of rock around and dropping them off in different locations.   
"So, do you have a plan?" Patamon asked.   
"No, not really. How about you?" TK ducked back into their hiding place.   
"Well, there is an empty corridor around the side that we might be able to sneak around to, if we can be quiet enough."   
"I think we can come up with a little creative stealth maneuvers." Ken glanced at TK with one eyebrow raised.   
"Ready when you are, your former Emperorness." TK shot back a look.   
"After you." Ken grinned.   
"Humans." Patamon muttered.   
There was a barely perceptible movement in the shadows as the four figures detached themselves stealthily from their background, creeping slowly and carefully toward the exit. Each time they rounded a corner they got Wormmon, who had the best eyes for it, peek around first, and then they crept, on hands and knees, through the forest of crates and piles of useless rock. Fortunately the other Digimon working in the mine appeared to have a cultured distaste for garbage, and avoided it just as much as they could, giving TK and Ken almost complete freedom to move along the boxes.   
As they reached the wall, TK and Ken gave each other a soundless high five, and then all four people disappeared into the cavern behind. 

"So now what?" Cody seemed to have come to some sort of grudging acceptance of what was going to happen.   
"I don't know." Davis clutched at his head with his hands. "I know, first I'll get my goggles out."   
"What?" Cody exclaimed.   
"Look, I just don't have any ideas, and it's the only productive thing I can do right now." He was already fumbling through his clothes for his goggles. With a few seconds of work he came out with the black box that Courage had given him, and opened the lid. There was nothing there.   
"What?!" Davis exclaimed, shaking the box. "Where did they go?"   
"Wait a moment Davis." Armadillomon was looking intently at the bottom of the box, on which was carved a sign that looked very much like the infinity symbol. "I think that's a mobius box."   
"A what?"   
"Try this, close it again. Then say the name of what you want and open it. That might help you."   
Davis shook his head, feeling stupid, and closed the box. He muttered "My goggles" under his breath, and opened the box. There, sitting there, like they had always been there, were his goggles.   
"That's right. I thought those were only a legend. They say that whatever you put in them stays in them till you want them to come out. They can hold almost anything." Armadillomon sat back on his haunches.   
"All right. Now I got 'em. And now we can think of a good way to be out of here. It goes like this Cody. We have a good place to hide, and we can hide here until the others find us, or until Veemon's up to walking around."   
"That's not much of a plan Davis, but I guess it will do."   
Veemon smiled at them.   
"Shush now, I think I hear something coming." Armadillomon looked down. "Not in the hallway either, but coming right between these boards in the wall here."   
There was indeed a sound, a creaking, almost like two pieces of hard, aged wood rubbing together, the sound of thudding footsteps that echoed faintly through the back wall, shaking the room in which they were sitting. Something about the sound and the peculiar grinding noise that accompanied it reminded Davis of something, but whatever it was, he simply could not seem to piece it together. From the sound of it there was quite a large passage behind him, a cavernous area of echoes that seemed to project the sound of whatever or whoever was out there through the boards and narrow stone walls of the storeroom. Whatever was out there was big, and the sense of unease that something was about to go wrong increased. Davis jerked his head over to give Veemon a quick glance, but it appeared that the blue Digimon was still down for the temporary count.   
"Just hope he doesn't hear us." Cody whispered.   
"Do we have them?" Rumbled a voice that was obviously unused to speaking. It sounded loud and terrible, as if it had been created from bones and scaly lungs, and suddenly Davis realized where he had heard those noises before. The inability of the voice to articulate itself provided the final clue he needed as to the identity of the mysterious personage who was making all the noise.   
"Uh Cody, isn't that, I mean doesn't it sound like…"   
"No my lord." A subordinate voice from outside spoke up. "We know where one group is, but the other two have repeatedly evaded us."   
"What Davis?"   
"I mean, isn't that SkullGreymon?"   
The creaky voice returned. "Can we capture at least them?"   
"Yes my Lord."   
"Then we will follow them wherever they choose to go. I think that if we can trap them, or put them in severe danger, the others will come to them. Perhaps we can use them as bait." The creaky voice continued.   
"I didn't know he could talk!" Cody exclaimed, managing to keep his voice down only at the last moment.   
"I didn't either, but I guess he can." Davis clutched his head. "Now what?"   
"An ingenious plan, my Lord." The voices outside continued.   
"Of course it is. Have them captured and brought to the cells down below the refinery. Make sure that the word is spread around to all the guards."   
"Of course, my Lord."   
The footsteps vanished into the distance, but Davis was still as disconcerted as he could be. "What do we do now?"   
"We need a plan." Cody also looked distraught. "Who do you think they're going after."   
"More to the point, where are they going to trap us?"   
"And what are we going to do about it?"   
Davis looked around for a few more moments, jerking increasingly frantically in his attempts to find an answer to his problems, before hitting the wall again. Cody stayed calmer.   
"Okay, we need a plan." Cody stated, turning to Davis.   
"Yeah, that's a laugh, a plan…I wish I had a plan. Why don't I have a plan!? I'm supposed to be the leader, and what do I have? Not the foggiest idea!"   
"C'mon Davis, it can't be that bad. We'll think of something."   
"How do we do that?" Davis screamed.   
"Well, by thinking calmly first." Cody suggested.   
Davis inhaled several times, taking great deep breaths to calm himself, to remove the fear of failure and lack of success. As he calmed down and tried to relax his natural resilience kicked in. After all wasn't he the leader? And hadn't he won all those other times? As he calmed down he practically feel his mind kick into gear. Plans began to flash through his head, some wildly crazy, but most of them beginning to make more and more sense. He was the leader. He could do this!   
Cody stared in worry at Davis' unnatural silence before whispering to him "Are you giving up Davis?"   
"Yea…I mean NO! I'm going to sit here now until I think up something, and maybe we'll be able to save them. It doesn't matter how long it takes, I'm just not giving up."   
"Maybe that's enough Davis. After all, it counts for something if you're not giving up. If you never give up, they can't beat you, ever. That's what it means to be a leader, you can't give up on your friends, ever…right Davis?"   
"It's just that…my stomach feels strange."   
"Davis, this isn't the time for…"   
"No, really strange, like…" Davis' description was interrupted by a sudden flare of red light as his crest exploded into life under his clothes, glowing into a new flower. For a moment, his whole face was a brilliant rose color, and then the light faded slightly, relaxing to its normal intensity, the light of a crest unleashed. Everyone paused for a moment, stopping to stare at the new event with consternation, and then time started moving again.   
"That's neat Davis."   
"Well, what do you know? I have my very own crest now. How cool is that? It must have been me deciding not to quit on my friends that brought it to life. Hey, Cody, look at your D3!"   
Cody's D3 was flashing rapidly, causing it to look like a Christmas decoration. It only took a moment for Cody to start looking around for the cause of this peculiar emission, to be greeted by a flashing light of the same color in a far corner of the room, under a large wooden box. Quickly and wordlessly the two humans and the one upright Digimon pushed the box aside, revealing a strange symbol imprinted in the stone under the box. It featured a pair of what looked like staves, crossed in an X, with a glowing circle in the middle. The patch of stone glowed yellow, and then faded a little, reducing in size to a normal crest, moving into Cody's chest, and disappearing.   
"Well, now we both have crests. So, what we need is a plan."   
"Right, which is where we were earlier." Cody noted, but sounding happier about it.   
"Except we're a whole bunch of steps ahead of it." Armadillomon joined in.   
"Right, and I think I have an idea. They get one group, right, and then they trap the other group, right?"   
"Okay..."   
"But at that point, we can trap them, right? I mean, we don't need a fancy plan or anything. They get us, we get them. And we can also free the first group. Then we can digivolve and grind them down. Or just bust out is probably a better idea."   
"Well, if Veemon is up to it, I guess we're up to it, right Armadillomon?"   
"Right."   
"My head feels better already. Let's go trap the trappers Davis!"   
"Right!" 

"That was humiliating." Yolei pointed out after a moment of testing the bars. She looked fairly angry, but Kari was too busy testing the walls to pay her any mind. "I could see huge battles with monster Digimon. I could envision hordes of angry demons cornering us and beating us into submission, but a net? That only happens in cheap movies."   
"Well, it happens." Kari checked the wall again, but found nothing that would help them. This was making her short tempered. "Any luck you guys?"   
In the cell across the hall Gatomon and Hawkmon sadly shook their heads. From their cell they could see the D3s sitting down the hall, but there was no way to access them. After a moment of looking at the wall, Kari went to the wall and peered out up and down the hallway as far as she could see. She sat down in the middle of the bare cell for a few moments, and then said a few words that probably would have shocked Tai into a coma if he had known she knew them.   
"What is it Kari?" Yolei asked, amazed at her sudden outburst of emotion.   
"This is too convenient, too obvious…too easy. The cells are too exposed, our D3s are right next door, it's just way to simple."   
"Might I inquire just what you are speaking of?" Hawkmon asked from the opposite cell.   
"This is a trap. And we're the bait." She spoke quite loudly for some reason. 

Ken and TK exchanged a look where they huddled behind a rock. The shadows masked their passage quite well.   
"Well, do you agree with her?" Ken asked after a moment.   
"Probably, yes. This is a little too easy."   
"Does she know we're here?"   
"Yes. And don't ask me how. I don't know." TK sighed and looked up at the ceiling, a view obscured by an alert Patamon settled on his hat. He chewed his lip in silence for a moment.   
"So we need a plan." Wormmon remarked to nobody in particular.   
"I don't think we get one. How does speed sound?" TK looked down the hall. "In order to bait the trap you have to use the real bait. Maybe we can get in and out before the jaws of the trap close.   
"Ah, the 'Fortune favors the Bold' plan?" Ken squinted down the hallway. "Might work. I'll go first, you back me up and see if you can figure out a way to open those cages."   
"Right. Patamon, don't digivolve until you absolutely have to."   
"Okay TK."   
"Here we go."   
"Wormmon…digivolve to….Stingmon!"   
"Let's get 'em."   
Stingmon shot up, carrying Ken, and zoomed straight down the hallway. With one hand he raked the bars with the glowing pink sword of energy protruding from one arm, but the connection did little except raise sparks. Apparently, whoever had planned the trap had done it well in that regard. Stingmon refused to stop, zooming down the hall to a more open area that appeared to have been once used for storage.   
Immediately a dozen or so Thundermon and Ninjamon poured out of the darkness, surrounding Stingmon in every way except one. One lone exit remained, heading upwards to the next level.   
"You're completely trapped, give it up." The Ninjamon in charge of the delegation snapped loudly, but he gazed worriedly at the open passageway out.   
Stingmon gazed around defiantly, knowing that his only chance was to speed his way through the open passage to the upper levels, but not wanting to either abandon his friends, or travel into a new trap.   
"You know, I have some questions about that…" from some rocks near the open passageway, two large figures emerged in the darkness. ExVeemon grinned savagely and cracked his knuckles a few times. Ankylomon just looked on wisely. "Exactly what do you mean by surrounded?"   
There was a moment of total and complete chaos, and in that moment TK struck. He had been creeping along silently all this time, and in that single moment of distraction, he shot forward, using his staff to pole-vault himself over a confused Thundermon and right to the niche where the D3s were being kept. Grabbing them both, he shot back into the middle of the hall, as various groups moved to attack each other, and hurled them at the bars of the cells with the humans. He could not get them through the bars of the cages, but they hit and clattered to a stop at the base. Yolei understood immediately, leapt through the air, and then slammed her hand down on her own device. At that exact moment, her D3 shone with internal fire, and an answering glare awoke from the other side of the hall.   
"Hawkmon…digivolves to….Aquilamon!"   
"Aquilamon…digivolves to…Silphymon!"   
Silphymon glanced briefly at the bars, and then hit them as hard as she could, exploding them open in a shower of metal sparks and fragments. Even before the bars hit the ground, Silphymon and Gatomon were out and into the fray. Davis glanced down at them, grinned, and raised his fist from where he was standing behind ExVeemon. On his chest, his crest exploded into another gout of flame, and he let it race out through his D3 and into his partner.   
"ExVeemon…Stingmon….DNA Digivolve to….Paildramon!"   
"Payback time Paildramon!" Davis shouted while the others watched on in an amazed stupor. "Let's show them who they messed with this time."   
"Right behind you." Silphymon howled, feet and arms flailing in a concentrated windmill of violence and destruction. In her wake, Digimon collapsed like puppets whose strings had been cut. Together the two Ultimates joined up in the middle of the room, pounding their Champion level assailants with fists, energy spikes and buffets of sheer force. Ninjamon and Thundermon were hurled backwards faster and faster, most of them rising to rejoin the fray, but some of them lying motionless on the ground. With the help of Ankylomon's hard shell and heavy tail, and Gatomon's slashing claws, the Champion level enemies found themselves beset by a whirlwind of strikes, coming in blurred moments and striking across them like a hammer, before turning elsewhere. The digimon of the Digidestined fought like a team, and it showed, as organization turned against the power of numbers. Slowly, the battle began to draw to a close.   
"All right. We're almost out. Time to get going." Davis shot off toward one opening, with the rest of the group, heading down one corridor. Quickly their pursuers realized that they did not actually wish to catch the escaping prisoners, and the gap between the Digidestined and the others following them was now quite large. It was only when they had outdistanced their most determined pursuer when they burst into another large cavern, this one, unfortunately, inhabited.   
"Tell me I'm dreaming." Kari muttered, tucking her face into Yolei's back as they zoomed along with Paildramon.   
"No, 'fraid not. It looks like this is SkullGreymon in the flesh." Davis looked up at the giant walking dinosaur skeleton as it lurched its way across the grounds, grinning evilly. Of course, there was no way that monstrosity of moving bones could look anything but evil, considering that is had permanently bared teeth.   
"We'll have to find another way!" TK shouted.   
"No, we'll go right through him. He's the boss, without him, the others just fall apart. Paildramon, Silphymon, drop us and attack!"   
"Right." There was a thunk as six Digidestined hit the ground at a fairly high speed, and then the two Ultimates charged up to battle. Right at the start, everyone was aware that SkullGreymon was tough, perhaps tough enough to defeat two Ultimates, and it showed. His massive skeletal arm batted Silphymon aside, and Paildramon's Desperado Blasters attack merely scattered off hard bone and went flying across the room. The monster roared at the two of them, and then stomped, the earthshaking blow sending them stumbling.   
"He's strong. Too strong." TK muttered.   
"No he's not, not if we do this right. He's a skeleton, right. Remember that skeleton we had in Biology class?" Davis howled at the top of his lungs exuberantly, punching at the air with his fist. "And what do skeletons do? They shatter! Hey guys, see if you can hit it with something that will shatter it!"   
"You got it Davis!" Paildramon soared upward, firing rapidly at the ceiling of the cavern. As soon as the first handful of shots hit a cascade of heavy boulders began to pound at SkullGreymon from above. Raining down like a hailstorm, the continuing bombardment sent the giant skeleton reeling. Silphymon bounded off the ground, and a bolt of Static Force exploded outward, not a penetrating beam but a blunt explosion that blew pieces of the giant walking skeleton in different directions. Even as SkullGreymon tried to recover from that, Paildramon shot below, one massive arm reaching up, and a series of grapnels shot out from his arm, tangling SkullGreymon's feet and sending him sprawling.   
"Now, all at once!"   
"Desperado Blasters!"   
"Static Force!"   
"Tail Hammer!"   
The combined power of the different Digimon hammered down at the comatose skeleton, and then, a second later, he was lying unconscious on the ground, unmoving. A moment later, his skeleton exploded into digital data.   
"Who's the man now?" Davis shouted.   
"You the man Davis." TK grinned and hit Davis lightly on the shoulder. "You da' man!" 

As night descended again, TK woke up from his dream, eyes frantically searching the sky. The mountain, the man, the fall into a dark eternity. What did it mean? WHAT DID IT MEAN? 

**Interlude-Blueaxe**

"Point Defense Three is out." The Defense Officer slammed one hand down on his control panel, trying to adjust for the loss in defensive firepower.   
"Get DCC on and tell them to work on it." Justice's voice was ice, as he watched the holographic display. Dozens of killer dark Digimon were hurtling through space outside the armored hull of the _Leonidas_, but there were already hundreds of Digimon tearing off of the Fleet's decks as the Dreadnoughts leapt for their opponents' throats. What got through could be adequately handled by point defense. What was more worrying was the enemy mobile units, moving into assault positions.   
"I have two enemy cruisers moving into gun range sir. And sensors indicate that at least one enemy Dreadnaught has locked targeting systems on us." The head tactical officer jerked his head around.   
"Fight your ship Captain." Justice surrendered immediate control of the ship to the proper Captain, who began barking out orders, turning instead to the display again and measuring distances by eye. On the display beams of fire lanced out, and one of the enemy cruisers lurched sideways as the _Leonidas_ bashed at it with contemptuous fury. But the cruisers were not completely impotent, and beneath his feet, Justice felt the ship rock slightly.   
"Hull breach in Gamma One Seven." The Ops officer narrowed his eyes. "We've lost Section Gamma One's power junction and radar five just went out of the loop again. I've got DCC on it. We've got med teams on the way too."   
"We've cleared the close in fighters sir." The Defense Officer spoke quietly, her fingers still moving over her board. "But the enemy has launched their reserve strike wings, they'll be here in about seventy seconds."   
"That gives us plenty of time for luxury. Ladies and Gentlemen, let's see what we've got. Hypervelocity range now. Let's give them salvo one on my mark. Mark!"   
Beneath his feet the ship really did shudder, and with good reason. Ten Dreadnaughts fired their first broadside as one, and they shook as their wrath was expelled. Two hundred of Citadel's new Hypervelocity capital missiles broke free of their tubes, hurling themselves outward at five percent of the speed of light as their launchers shuddered behind them. Enemy point defense crews struggled to engage them, but the introduction of the HVs was just a little too new for them. They had only had fragmented reports of how they had been used in battle, and the extended range and increased velocity played havoc with defense schemes. The missiles carried no warhead, they were moving fast enough that the energy released by their sudden impact rendered any warhead overly redundant. Shields collapsed and metal heaved under that sudden pounding as the missiles arrived, sending people and Digimon flying in all directions. And all two hundred missiles were concentrated on only two of the enemy's Dreadnaughts.   
"We have reports of multiple internal explosions on Target One sir. Subject is definitely trailing twisted metal. Too much dust to see Target Two sir…wait a minute…Target Two is GONE! Oh, that's a kill. Two is gone!" The voice of the Tactical Officer rose half and octave and several decibels.   
"That's enough Tactical. We still have seventeen more of the bastards. Give me a second salvo on Three and Four. Let whoever comes through next handle One."   
"Yessir. I have affirmative contact on the enemy carriers. They're moving to make a run for it, and I think they're trying to outspeed us. If they get another five kilometers or so on us, they'll be able to launch about three more strikes down our throats before we can respond.   
"Salvo two away! Salvo two away!" They weren't so lucky this time, the next two Dreadnaughts on the list suffered catastrophic damage, but they continued coming in, and now their own missiles were coming into range. Point Defense tried their best, but the oncoming missiles were moving too erratically for the computers to handle completely, and shields buckled as the a rainbow of firepower began to smash the Citadel vessels.   
"Sir, standing by to engage on Alpha two." The tactical officer nodded once at Justice.   
"Very good. All forces, this is the flag. Code is Alpha Two. Repeat, code is Alpha Two. Engage at maximum range minus ten percent. I want debilitating hits on those targets."   
On the display there was an explosion as Dreadnaught Five reduced itself to shrapnel. A damage control siren began sounding as the entire forward crew bunks, not to mention battle stations for the maintenance crews in forward Damage Control Two ignited into a roaring inferno. A sensor array twisted sideways as a horribly burned Garudamon, one wing afire, slammed into it. Justice did not alter his facial expression. And on the screen, the range numbers reduced as the distance between them and the enemy slowly shrunk.   
"Alpha Two." He whispered as the lights went red, and the universe exploded for a new reason.   
The X-Ray Laser was Cortell and Jan's creation more than anything. A high grade laser needed a high grade power source. This suggested an obvious solution to those willing to engage in laser research, but it was hard to do. The melding of advanced programming skills, nanotechnology and a transfusion of the powers of the Light had given Cortell the necessary control to create the weapon of his dreams. In each of the ten Dreadnaughts a powerful monster awoke, wrapped inside a constraining cocoon of twisted lines of energy shielding, blanketed and imprisoned by dozens of electromagnetic fields. And that monster raised itself in anger and horror against its captors, but, unable to break the chains and bars that imprisoned it, its fury was spent in the way its creators intended. Under the stare of thousands of hours worth of work, a system of complex field generators and essence crystals reached out and did the impossible, and leashed a massive, thermonuclear detonation. Even as the nuclear fireball threatened to escape, specialized electromagnetic lenses focused the devastating energy down into cohesive beams, reflecting them through the length and breadth of the ship to the twelve projectors the system was connected to. And then, the _Leonidas_ reached out and wracked the nearest enemy Dreadnaught with thermonuclear fury.   
The effect was as immediate as it was horrifying. The enemy ship froze, her shields, already battered, breaking into small fragments as those ravishing stilettos stabbed outward. Beneath those new holes metal vaporized into small chunks and clouds of noxious gas. Air caught fire, flames licked hungrily at metal and flesh alike. Walls and bulkheads crumpled under that awesome power, and the ship trembled as its death rattle was heard throughout the land. And then, with an explosion that could barely be put into words, the essence crystal containing the dark energies that powered it exploded into fragments and the hulk erupted into a flower of dark and terrible energies.   
"That's positive kills on seven targets. The _Agincourts_ are through, and we have contact with _Roland_ and _Baeldur_. We're standing by for further orders."   
"Let the _Agincourts_ and the carriers take the battle-line. We go after the carriers."   
"Yes sir."   
  
  



	10. Honor of the Sword

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.   


  
**Episode X**  
**The Honor of the Sword**  
  
___"I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for..." _  
-Thornton Wilder  
  


"So, how come Yolei doesn't have to DNA Digivolve, but we do Ken?" Davis wanted to know as they sat around the campfire in the early morning light. He poked at the fire with a stick, looking with envy at the others, who were still sleeping. He had taken the last watch, and was up early, and had been awake when Ken had stirred.  
"I don't know Davis. I have some theories, but they may have to wait until Cody manages to use his new crest. I'm sure that he will, but I really don't know right now."  
Off to the side Kari yawned and threw off the patchwork of branches and dried leaves that had served as her insulating cocoon during the night. She looked around and blinked several times before staggering off to the stream to splash water on her face. Davis watched the fire as she walked back several minutes later, looking definitely cleaner and more awake.  
"Good morning guys. Anything interesting happen last night?" she asked.  
"No, not really." Davis replied, poking the fire again. Kari shrugged and picked up a few rocks, pitching them aimlessly into a bush a few meters away.  
"So what's wrong with TK?" Ken asked without changing his expression, watching the sunrise over the hills to the east. The stone that Kari was thrown jerked in her hand, its trajectory sending it bouncing off to one side with a raucous clatter.  
"What do you mean what's wrong with TK?" Kari asked, her frozen position and the tiny quaver in her voice giving a sufficient answer.  
"I'm not blind Kari. And I'm not stupid either." Ken sighed and looked down at the ground. "Although sometimes I wish I was. He's being sort of jumpy lately, and he tends to be too high strung, and I don't like it."  
"You noticed too?"  
"Ever since our run-in with SkullGreymon he's been getting steadily worse, but I think it was there before then. I don't know, he just seems soedgy. And then last night, when I was on watch, he woke up at least once in some sort of nightmare. He was covered in sweat, but there was nothing I could do about that, and he wouldn't talk to me about it."  
"He hasn't talked to me either." Kari looked down. "Something's eating him up, and I don't know what."  
"He's having horrible nightmares. The same one appearing over and over again." They all looked down in surprise at Gatomon, who was now calmly sitting on the ground, looking off at nothing. "His nightmares are almost as bad as mine, and they're as bad as what you used to have Kari. But I don't know why. He hasn't told me, and I haven't asked."  
"Why not?" Kari inquired.  
"Because he hasn't wanted to tell me." Gatomon shrugged the whole thing off. "It is a sort of personal affair, and if he doesn't want to talk to me about it, then I won't push him. Some things just need time."  
"Right." Ken placed a hand on Kari's shoulder. "But maybe we should let him get it off his chest."  
Gatomon shrugged and ambled off. Kari looked at Ken worriedly and then pursued her feline companion with fear written all over her face. Davis started a moment and then tried to follow her, but Ken held out his hand to stop him, shaking his head. Davis stared for a moment and then stopped.  
"Why does she care so much about TK's problems anyway?" he groused.  
Ken opened his mouth as if to say something, and then quickly shut it again. Davis turned and glared at him, but the black-haired boy met his gaze quietly and calmly for a few seconds before turning decisively away. Davis grumbled a little and looked back at the ground. Ken sighed and turned back to the fire and concentrated on cooking breakfast.  
By the time everyone, including TK, was up, moving and eating, the signs were fairly obvious. He was moving slower, talking less, and generally looking more agitated and rumpled then was normal. Everyone noticed it, even Davis, who belatedly broke in and stared at TK for several long moments. In fact everyone was casting covert looks at TK except for Kari, who was very carefully avoiding eye contact or any other sort of contact. She did quiver a little whenever he got too close though. Ken and Cody exchanged glances, Cody and Yolei exchanged glances, Yolei and Ken exchanged glances. Davis and Veemon exchanged shrugs. Patamon and Gatomon huddled together in a corner, discussing something. The other Digimon appeared to be avoiding the situation altogether. TK must have noticed something, because his gazes became suspicious, but he apparently misjudged the magnitude of it, as he refused to engage the whole topic in conversation. By the end of breakfast everyone was moody and quiet and sullen. Ken sighed and rolled his eyes at Yolei in a clear gesture of summoning, and then tried to keep himself focused while the two of them walked out into the forest together.  
Around them the morning light reflected through the pine trees, a layer of dried needles already crackling beneath their feet. Dust floated in those beams of sunlight, and the weather was crisp and cool, forcing the inhabitants to take refuge in their furred skins or any other method of protection they might provide themselves with. Here and there birds were visible, darting through the various shafts of light that spun downward from the sky. From above there was the sound like rushing water of the wind moving through the branches, gently shaking the pine needles in an imitation of dancers swaying to the beat of some unheard music. All in all, it was a quiet place, a good place for a morning walk, if one did not have their mind on other matters.  
"Any ideas?" Ken asked after awhile.  
"About TK? No, I thought we would just wait for it, and sooner or later he'll let it off his chest." Yolei pushed her glasses back up.  
"I don't think that's such a good idea you know. Have you checked up on Kari lately?" Ken watched a Stellar Jay cock its head at him and the squawk in protest as they continued deeper into its territory.  
"No, she hasn't been saying muchbad?" Yolei now looked concerned.  
Ken sighed and absently picked a pine cone up off the ground and threw it into the distance, startling another bird of some sort. "Pretty bad, from what I've seen. I'm not that good at emotional things so tell mehow deep is their thing?"  
"Thing, huh?" Yolei elbowed Ken and he smiled slightly. "Well, I don't know. If they don't get involved romantically or something, they'll probably spend the rest of their life as best friends regardless. They're just so close, but that means that it's hard to figure out whether the problem with Kari is over her best friend or her crush. And we all know that Kari hasn't much more of a clue. It could be really serious, but they might be too young for it."  
"Young? TK's stared down demons and creatures from the abyss we don't even name anymore. Kari's been fighting darkness incarnate since the day she first stumbled into this mess. And we haven't done too shabby either. None of us are exactly young anymore." Ken looked at the sun's positions through the rays striking his jacket. "It would have been nice to be a normal teenager, but skipping that and going straight to responsible adult does have some advantages."  
"Hmmmyou probably are right. Any ideas?"  
"I guess I should confront TK with it. You hold Kari down and see what she can tell you."  
"And how are you going to get TK to tell you anything?" Yolei asked curiously.  
"Trust me." Ken's grin bordered on evil. "I have a way that will get him to do anything for me."  
  
"All right TK!" Ken thundered when he finally caught up to the tall Digidestined on some rocks overlooking a nearby lake. "Sit down, shut up, and talk!"  
"About what?" TK looked up surprised at Ken's sudden change in attitude.  
"What's eating you TK?" Ken sat down beside him.  
"Nothing." TK replied shortly, tossing a rock into the water and watching the waves radiate outwards to lap against the granite outcrop he was sitting on.  
"Patamon," Ken turned his gaze to the orange and white mammal sitting on another rock, basking himself in the sun. "I want you to do me a favor. Go fly off to Kari and tell her that TK has a big huge crush on her and would love it if"  
"You wouldn't!" TK shot bolt upright like he had been shot. Ken smirked down at him, a triumphant smile dancing across his face. For a moment TK was tempted to call Ken out, but the rock hard determination in the black-haired boy's eyes was too real, and something in him quailed from it. "All right, all right, you can stop over-dramatizing Ken. Sit down and I'll talk."  
"Good, everyone's worried. What's happening TK? This isn't like you at all."  
"It started with the dreams. Stupid lousy dreams." TK pitched a rock into the water. "They're always the same. Some guy, I can't tell what he is or even if he's human or not, is holding me off a cliff. He always asks a question that has something to do with Hope or Courage. And no matter what I answer, he throws me off." TK's face came up, and it was covered in tears, running down his face. "I always know that it's just a dream and all, simply a vision or something, and that I never hit the bottom, but I'm always terrified. I'm so afraid it scares me, and it disgusts me. Look at me, afraid of a little dream.  
"And that's not the worst part. Something's whispering to me in the dark. What if the dream's not a dream but a prediction. What if I fail all of you because I'm just not strong enough, or I don't know the answer, or I'm too scared. That's the one that gets me, what if I'm too scared? I'm almost useless anyway, it takes more to make Patamon digivolve then it takes the rest of you to go to Ultimate. If I'm too scared to do anything, then I'm just dragging you down, and then I'm worse than uselessI'm a liability. What if that's all I am Ken?" now he was choking back sobs as what was eating his heart out emerged, and Ken could do nothing but stand there in shock, to startled at the outburst to even try and comfort his fallen friend.  
  
"It doesn't matter what I think of TK." Kari insisted, shaking her head, looking above at the sky. "It doesn't matter in the slightest."  
"What do you mean Kari?" Yolei absently peeled the bark off of a tree.  
"Have you ever known something about the future or something else? Sort of like through a six sense. And I mean really known that something was going to go wrong, or go chaotic, or something. Ever?"  
"No, not really." Yolei watched Kari, but Kari seemed to be almost ignoring her.  
"Once I got the crest of Light it started to happen to me all the time. And I never knew what to do about it. I know the future, I'm the Light, and the Light has to shine where the darkness is greatest. The rest of my life will be devoted to fighting that Darkness, confronting it face to face. What I want doesn't matter. If I ask TK to join me, I'll be dooming him to a life of facing a Darkness I don't think any of us are strong enough to handle. I can't do that to him Yolei, I just can't." And she stood there like a pillar, a calm sentinel held out to the stars that waited, invisible, above.  
  
"I wonder why everyone is so upset." Cody let the sword spin in his hand momentarily and then returned to a simple series of parries as he conversed with Armadillomon. Being a good sport, his partner Digimon had volunteered to walk around carrying a piece of wood on his shell that Cody could use for sparring practice, a good precaution since the blade really was sharp, and dangerous. Already today's block of wood had several nicks and cuts in it.  
"They'll get over it." Armadillomon suggested, keeping a wary eye on what Cody was doing.  
"Well, I'm not so sure. Maybe we're doing the wrong thing." Cody let the sword twirl in his hand again, and then came across with a series of level, horizontal sweeps. Steel slashed through the air, humming like a flight of angry bees. "After all, we always seem to be involved in hurting other Digimon, who probably only wanted to be left alone."  
"I don't know about that Cody"  
"Oh I don't mean the truly evil ones, like Khartan and Reaver and such, but the others are almost as bad." A vertical chop that might have severed a human opponent's arm at the shoulder it was done hard enough. "But the others, I'm just not sure. I know that we have to do it, but I hate doing it, even so. Believe me, I'm not going to let evil triumph just because I'm afraid of hurting other Digimon or anything. I grew out of that stage a long time ago. But sometimes I wonder what the best thing to do would be."  
"A tricky question." Armadillomon drove forward suddenly, seeing if he could catch his human companion unaware, but a flurry of head level chops relieved him of that impression. He jerked backwards again as a single determined thrust caught him in the center.  
"Well, I'm not sure what the answer is. I mean, we're trying to do the best thing, right. So should we give up if our being here hurts other Digimon. Should we avoid confrontation if we only end up destroying others." This was accompanied by a chest thrust and a sudden turn and chop that probably would have decapitated a human opponent.  
"I just don't know what to say Cody."  
"Neither do I." The boy thrust his sword, quivering into the ground in anger. "Look at me, I'm fighting with weapons, trying to learn how to kill things. Look what I've become Armadillomon! A murderer in training!"  
"Now Cody" Armadillomon began in a startled manner.  
"Oh don't worry about me." Cody gave a bitter laugh. "Don't worry about me at all. I know that what we've done was necessary. I just don't know if we should do it again."  
  
Since everyone else was busy, it was left to Davis and Veemon to explore their surroundings. This, of course, was normal, as Davis was the one with the energy to work out, while everyone else dealt with whatever issues they were having. As a result, it was he who found the pathway of flowers.  
"Hey guys, come look at this!" His shout aroused the others, who were engaged in a careful game of not watching each other. Quickly they sprung up, looking for any excuse to avoid their current problems.  
"Well, we could follow it." Hawkmon suggested.  
"It looks just like the one that led to Babamon." Kari noted as they followed Hawkmon's suggestion.  
"Indeed it does." This voice was familiar, and they all looked up to see the wrinkled old Digimon standing there, broom in hand, waiting for them. "Hurry up now. I have lowered my protections for you, but do not think that I shall leave them low for long."  
Everyone walked over to her and, to their surprise, found the familiar house standing right there as they had left it several days ago. Eyebrows and shoulders lifted in surprise and their was much staring among the party.  
"I move the house around with me." Babamon noted. As they began to stare at her, she stared right back. "What? I am a Mega after all."  
"Right." Yolei shook herself off, and then all of them quickly followed the old wizened Digimon indoors as she shook herself off. As they walked inside the sense of comfort overwhelmed them, making them feel much calmer and better than they had in the tense outdoor situation.  
"So, I have seen that you are doing well." Babamon went over to a corner of the room and returned with a green enameled teapot, which she graciously presented to her guests. "That is you remain alive. A fine accomplishment in this world."  
"You've been following us?" Davis asked, looking interested.  
Babamon waved a hand dismissively. "You do not survive as long as I have without some way of cultivating information, yes? I have received some news of you, but not much, I have been listening to other matters as well."  
"What other things?" Davis asked, but Babamon put up a hand in an unmistakable gesture of silencing.  
"No, my story can waittell me what has happened to you."   
The hours rolled on into evening. By the time that they had finished recanting their various adventures, and providing all the detail that Babamon later asked for, it was quite late. She had already provided them with a light lunch and a filling dinner, and innumerable cups of tea, and now they sat there, basking in the warm glow of a fire in the corner, and the strange lamps that adorned the walls, enjoying their simple time. Babamon looked interested, but not particularly perturbed by their run-ins in the past. In fact, she spent most of her time sitting there, calmly sipping at a cup of tea, and watching them talk to each other.  
"So what news did you hear?" Gatomon asked after a while.  
"I have heard many things." Babamon reached out with her broomstick and began to trace odd, eldritch patterns on the floor absently. "I have heard things from high and low, near and far, and they all hold some vast import for all of us."  
"Like what?" Veemon asked.  
"I have heard that the Eagles have marched through the Vericon mountains, and I have heard that the Manhunters have thrown them back in disarray all the way to For-kalas. I have heard that the garrison of For-kalas has marched on Reistat. I have heard that Reistat has capitulated and joined the Grand Alliance of its own accord, and that they march to For-kalas. I have heard that the Wolves have taken Emerstat and now hold the southern borders of that realm firm against the Black Reapers. I have heard that the Black Reapers have moved on Kornest and taken it unawares, and I have heard that an ambush at Kornest has destroyed them totally. I have heard the word that Resh'kahan itself has fallen to the Wolves, and that the Wolves now move against the Vast Emperor himself. I have heard that a counteroffensive from Resh'kahan has destroyed the Dragons totally. I have heard many things, and I know that most of them are wrong."  
"Do you know anything that could help us?" Ken put down his tea cup.  
"Help you now? No. Help you later? Perhaps. Some things all stories agree on. Citadel has taken Blueaxe, and now Justice masses the vanguard of the Dragon Host somewhere against the darkness. His internal lines secure he is expected to return to the offensive soon. The Wolves have moved, and, if not in possession of the once-great nation of Emerstat, they surely threaten to take control of it. The Emperor of the Vast Empire of the Blood Sun has lost much, and it could be that the Wolves and Eagles move against Resh'kahan, the Fortress City of the Mountains. Then again, they may wait for something else. I know that there is fighting between the Darkness Crest, that which controls the place you know as the Dark Ocean, and the Council of Nine. I do not know whether that infighting is serious, or another feud between the powers of darkness. Nevertheless, Citadel has clearly turned the tide of the war in its favor, through some trickery I do not yet understand. Even now they throw themselves at the crushing weight of darkness. Who knows? They might triumph early."  
"Uh, I don't mean to be rude or anything" Yolei interrupted nervously. "but we have no idea what you're talking about."  
Babamon gave them a wrinkled grin. "Ah yes, I had forgotten that you would not know the language. Perhaps I should fill you in. When the forces of the Light began to fight the Great War in earnest, they needed to organize themselves so that they could truly fight as a group, and not as a mob. The forces that later became that which is known as Citadel came up with several different names, and those have stuck. Originally, the names were given to fit the group they matched. For instance, the Hawks consist of Digimon who fly, the Barracudas of Marine Digimon. On land, they depended on the Wolves, ground fighters who fought like a wolf pack, continually turning and changing their plan of attack to catch their enemy in the rear, always striking from behind. Over the years they needed a better way to hold ground, and the Eagles came into being. The Eagles are named after the ancient Roman Legions, and they fought like them for a time. Do you know of the tech barrier?"  
"No." Ken answered truthfully.  
"Well, you may have noticed that your world's electronics do not function well here. In fact, only specially modified electronics seem to function well, such as that scanner. The reason is that the laws of science are different from world to world, something that is only natural, but that renders complex machinery unreliable. That scanner runs off your internal energy, something that never changes, but it is difficult to build something like a weapon, which uses a lot of power, that operates off a persons energy without potentially killing the person. Gunpowder and the like also present a problem. So the original humans fighting fought with sword and shield. But all of those groups held a secondary position to the Dragons.  
"The Dragons are unique. They are trained to fight on the ground and in the air, and were traditionally trained from Digimon who did likewise, such as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. Over time they changed into those who support the operations of the Fleet, because a two-kilometer long flying fortress has to be able to take on any opponent. They are still considered the elite arm of the Light, but they tend to take tremendous losses in any confrontation. Commandos and Rangers are also technically with the Dragons."  
"How does a flying fortress work if the laws of physics are different?" Ken wanted to know.  
"Because they use the power of the Light to create a bubble of their own reality around them. Digimon do this naturally, which is why the laws of nature change when the enter your world. It allows them to function in all worlds."  
"That explains who those people are, but what does all that military stuff mean?" Veemon asked after a few moments.  
Babamon just smiled again. "That would take a long time to explain. Suffice it to say that Citadel has put together an impressive offensive against the powers of Darkness. They have ambushed their attackers, and then launched a counteroffensive that has staggered them. So far, fortune favors them, but it remains to be seen for how long that will last."  
"Any news that can help us?" Davis questioned after a moment.  
"Well, you already know of Reaver. He is a powerful adversary, one that you should avoid if all possible, but he remains close to you. Machinedramon is the Digimon who rules over this place with Khartan. He lives in a fortress not far from your current path, you are looping around it even now. Khartan's other servants, Sickle, Ravisher, Talon and Bane are with him in his fortress. I should probably warn you that they are extremely powerful of their own right. I have heard that your friends and fellow companions make progress in that world, but I am truly not sure about this."  
"So, there's a question. Do we go after Machinedramon, try to stand against Reaver, or just go for Khartan's throat?" Davis asked.  
As the night passed on, they began to speak of strategy. Davis argued for the direct approach, wiping out Machinedramon if they could, but heading straight for Khartan. Yolei argued that they should try to ambush Reaver first, to buy themselves some breathing space. Kari held out for an attempt to increase their familiarity with their crests, and maybe pick up some more Ultimate-level firepower before heading into battle. Ken supported staying further in the wilds until they come up with a new plan. Cody was taciturn and quiet, TK sullen and withdrawn. After a few minutes of discussions and plans, Davis was yelling at Yolei, Kari was ignoring Davis, Yolei and Ken were avoiding eye contact, everyone was staying away from TK, and Kari and Yolei had almost come to blows.  
After a few minutes when everyone tried to establish exactly how powerful their crests were, Cody looked over at Babamon and asked innocently "Just what are the crests anyway?"  
Babamon looked up at the ceiling as the impromptu question brought the entire argument screeching to a halt. "That would be hard to explain. Maybe I could explain it best like thisthere is a continuing battle between good and evil. Is that easy enough to understand?"  
"Yes." Everyone responded.  
"Well, Good and Evil are powers beyond comprehension. When the Great War was young, the forces of Light knew that they needed new power to defeat the forces of Darkness. They knew that in times of great need, a person can, through such things as Courage or Friendship, draw upon great power from above and use it in this world. By forging the crests they were able to make that kind of connection permanent, but the bearer of the crest must first open that connection within themselves to make it work. I know that the crests which you now wear are mere copies of the original crests, and, as such, have their powers reduced."  
"Reduced?" Everybody exclaimed.  
"Yes. As I recall the original crests drove their bearers mad for weeks at a time, and some of them never recovered. The original crests give great powers, incredible powers, to their bearers, but they cause great madness. Your crests will take more effort to bring out their true strength, but are much safer to you." Babamon looked up, her eyes bright and shining in the artificial light. "Do not ask me of Light and Hope. I know too little to answer, and what little I know would distress you too much."  
"Oh, right." Davis sounded disappointed. And then everyone remembered what they had been fighting about earlier, and the argument flared up again, even louder.  
  
The council sat around the table, debating their future endlessly. Everyone was there, Justice and Courage as holographic images from the _Leonidas_, Grey and Phoenix looking in from command ships worlds apart. Knowledge, Friendship and Reliability viewed the proceedings calmly from different fortifications scattered over the Interconnected Worlds. Gennai was arguing with Reliability.  
"I don't think we should do it. I just can't see any sense in it."  
"We need the distraction. Emerstat needs help reassembling any semblance of military might or prowess, and the only way to do that is to give the Bloody Sun something else to worry about." Gennai sat back in his chair. "If you can raid their supply convoys or something, we might be able to draw them into chasing you."  
"And what if they catch us?"  
"That's what you're paid for."  
"If they catch your bait, you're going to have a minor disaster on your hands Gennai." Justice looked uncomfortable. "As long as they stay in narrow mountain valleys the force-to-space ratio holds both ends even. But if they get caught outside the hills and somewhere near the plains, that five to one numerical disadvantage plays against them heavily. And I don't know about long term raids, because Resh'kahan is just too close for my comfort. That puts the Wolves through a great deal of risk."  
"You have a better idea?" Gennai challenged.  
"If you could possibly move down the Greenwood River to the Island of Esobarte, it might be possible to take and hold the bridges for long enough to disrupt cross-river communication and withdraw before being trapped by boat."  
"We'll consider it." Gennai muttered after a moment, suggesting that this was the best plan he had heard in awhile.  
"Maybe if we could retake the Corinos basin" Love suggested from her end of the table. Gennai and Justice both grunted. Out of the five thousand Justice had sent in, five hundred had been lost taking it, and over a thousand lost in a desperate retreat. Even now that force was reorganizing.   
"Not without air cover from up north." Knowledge stated firmly, and shrunk back as Justice flinched. Justice had been responsible for a plan of attack that worked nearly flawlessly, except that the enemy had come up with three times as many units as the Light had thought possible. They had won, but suffered nearly five times the expected casualties to their air units. It was a common mistake to make in a war, but Justice had taken it fairly hard, and everyone tried to avoid mentioning it around him.  
"Or maybe another drawn out brawl over the Wilding." Friendship spoke up, and now it was Gennai's turn to flinch. He had commanded the first drawn-out battle to wrest control of the Wilding from his opponent, and left ten thousand bodies behind him in the process.  
"What about the master plan?" Kindness asked, leaning back.   
"I'm still convinced that Earth is the key to phase two. Otherwise I do not know enough to change the plan in any way that would concern us." Justice stared right back.  
"You're expecting a lot from the Digidestined." Gennai was looking at Justice strangely.  
Justice shrugged. "They'll have to handle it."  
  
Reaver sighed again and looked very carefully at the place where the tracks he had been following disappeared into nothing. Someone was hiding the digidestined from him, and he found that the effort needed to trace these brats down was getting on his nerves. As he looked around, he suddenly thought of something, and snapped his fingers, pointing to a nearby lake, and beneath him a wave of darkness moved out. He grinned darkly, something that would have been missed easily in the cloak of night that lay over the land.  
  
"I think I'll take a walk." Cody suggested after everyone else had been fighting for a while. The others nodded, or at least shook their heads as much as possible given that they were still fighting with each other over the wisest plan of action. In the midst of the fire and chaos, Cody shook his head and wandered out the door with Armadillomon.  
"Nobody pays attention to me." Cody groused as he walked down the hill from the warm glow emitted from the house.  
"Well, you do like to stay pretty quiet." Armadillomon hurried to keep up, twisting from side to side.   
"Yeah, I know. I just think that they wouldn't listen that well. I am the youngest, you know."  
"That doesn't mean anything Cody. I mean, usually Davis is the one who acts the youngest, and we all listen to him. I think you just don't speak out enough."  
Cody smiled at his friend. "Fair enough, and probably true. But today I didn't talk much because I had no idea what to talk about. I didn't have much of a plan, and I really couldn't think of one that I could use. Could you?"  
"No, not really."  
"See, there you go. And my Grandpa always says that one should keep quiet if one has nothing to say."  
"Of course."  
For a time they walked in silence, the gentle light of the star, occasionally obscured by the gently drifting clouds overhead playing a gentle illumination over the scene. The grass they were walking through crunched under their feet, and eventually they wandered down to the lake.  
"I wish I had a plan that would keep us from fighting any more." Cody muttered as they walked along.  
"We all wish that." Armadillomon responded cheerfully, still watching the stars above.  
"Yeah, but sometimes I just don't think that we try very hard. After all, we're always fighting with each other about the best way to fight everyone else. Maybe we're too fixed on that to really come up with a good peaceful plan."  
"Could be Cody, but I really don' see anything better to do."  
"What's that?" Cody pointed, and Armadillomon's attention turned to the front, where a large dark shadow was visible by the lake.  
"I don't know, it looks sort of familiar though. Wait, I do know what it is." Armadillomon gazed down at the shadow and its writhing form "That's MarineDevimon."  
"Great. Just great. Do you think he can see us?" Cody shrunk down on the ground, trying to hide in the moist grass.  
"I don't think so. He's too far away."  
"We need to get back and tell the others." Armadillomon nodded his agreement, and then the two of them started to creep away, keeping low in the grass, but they barely made it a meter before the apparition spoke up, voice trumpeting all over the immediate area.  
"Attention, those of the so-called Digidestined." The voice spoke loudly and cruelly. For a moment Cody was in a panic, worrying that somehow that apparition that was MarineDevimon had somehow found their hiding place. But a moment later he shakily reassured himself by realizing that this message could be heard all over the immediate area. "I appear to have obtained the possession of a large number of Crabmon here in this lake. It would be unfortunate I suppose should anything happen to them. However, since I am supposed to be in pursuit of you, I suppose that anything might happen as I cease to pay attention to them." This statement was accompanied by a scream, something that made Cody clench his fists in sudden, impotent fury. "Oops, how careless of me. It's time to come out and play Digidestined."  
"We've got to do something Armadillomon." Cody's voice was frantic.  
"But what?"  
"We've got no choice, the others are too far away. We've got to draw him away."  
"Well, he is kinda slow."  
"You think that Ankylomon can outrun him?" Cody looked down.  
"Well, I kinda suppose that he could if I run fast enough. But Cody, are you sure we should be doin' this?" Armadillomon glanced at his human partner.  
"I don't have a choice Armadillomon. In case you haven't noticed, it's up to us now. We keep thinking we're heroes, well, I guess it's time to act like heroes too. We have to draw him off."  
"Right you are then."  
"Armadillomondigivolves toAnkylomon!"  
"Ah, so there you are." MarineDevimon was shifting his appearance, but Ankylomon, with Cody on his back, was already thumping away. The giant black figure laughed once, and gave chase.  
  
As the others argued, oblivious to the conflict outside, Babamon closed her eyes and sought the peace within. She knew what was coming, and drew upon her inner strength to serve as a beacon through the worlds.  
"Are you all right?" TK, staying away from the argument, was the first to notice such a change in their host, but by the time he asked the question she was already bathed in her power, drawing upon it to mark her place in the world.  
  
"Faster Ankylomon, faster." Cody shouted, trying to maintain his seat. He had ridden Ankylomon before of course, but this time seemed worse. The constant bump and jolt of staying on top of his companion was beginning to cause damage to his spinal cord more than anything else. Behind them was the ever present shadow, seeming to grow larger in the sky with each passing moment, a constant reminder of what was following them, and why they were running away.  
Ankylomon did not bother to waste breath responding to his partner's exhortations, but Cody could tell that the Champion was getting tired. Of course now that he had the time to think about things, the hole in his plan was becoming painfully obvious. Ankylomon could not run forever, and MarineDevimon could make their escape more painful than other simply by adding a few touches of his own to make them slow down and fail.  
"Darkness Water!" A gout of black and yellow flame slammed into the ground nearby. With the speed of the chase their pursuer failed to make an accurate hit, but it threw Cody off his mount, and knocked Ankylomon on his back.  
For a moment Cody regained his wits in peace, but then a shadow erupted, filling the sky, blotting out the stars. Oddly shaped tentacles writhed like a nest of snakes, cutting odd patterns in the air that would have made Cody's skin crawl if every hair on his body was not trying to stand up at the same time. Two reddish eyes glared down at him, piercing whatever defenses he had erected over his vulnerable mind, and Cody could feel the malevolence rain down on him. For a moment everything stood frozen, as if in a painting, the faint starlight reflecting off inky black surfaces engraving the moment in his mind. And then everything restored itself to motion. From above he could see a cruelly clawed tentacle race downward, slamming itself toward him, could hear noise faintly in his ears, could feel something inside of him refuse to look away. He could feel the steady determination, like an iron bar in his spine, as he stood to meet his end, could hear new noise, and could see better now, more light or something, but there was some pain in his chest  
"Kachina Bombs!"  
A mere split-second before the deadly claw should have landed, there was a whir, and then three of the familiar serrated disks flew overhead, slamming into the dark shape, and sending it reeling backward. Instead of swatting Cody like some offending insect, the claws pierced the earth a few meters away, sending dirt flying. Behind Cody, gleaming in the dark like a knight in shining armor, Shakkuomon towered, inlaid gold and jewels sparkling even in the faint light of stars. Massive as a building, the Ultimate raised two hands, ending in razor grips, in challenge to the dark shape standing across from it.  
"Darkness Water!"  
The black and yellow flames licked out toward Shakkuomon, but Shakkuomon raised both of his arms out to his side, and then fixed himself there. The fire exploded inward, but the Ultimate blocked it, absorbing it into the hole opened in his lower body. There was a moment when everything was illuminated by those terrible flames, and then that moment ended, and everything was darker once more, only the afterimage of those fires existing to tell where they had been. For a moment the two of them stood there, watching and waiting, and then MarineDevimon threw one massive clawed arm around, seeking to smash his enemy to the ground.  
"Kachina Bombs!" This time the disks struck to immobilize, and MarineDevimon lurched backward with an animal shriek of pain as the razor-sharp edges sliced a huge chunk off of his tentacle. A moment later another streak of black and yellow flames struck out, driving Shakkuomon backwards briefly, but the effect did not last for long.  
"Darkness Water!" Black fire reached out once more, but Shakkuomon had clearly had enough of this particular battle. Both arms reached out, seeking their enemy as if he were illuminated by a thousand torches.  
"Harmonious Spirit!" Two red-orange beams shot out from each of Shakkuomon's narrowed eyes, smashing through the flames like a battering ram, zeroing in on the other Digimon's head. There was a moment as the two Ultimates struggled against each other, and then MarineDevimon exploded into fragments of data.  
"Black Spike!" A single shot of darkness exploded down from the heavens above, striking Shakkuomon before Cody could offer his congratulations. Immediately the giant silver Digimon melted down into a collapsed Armadillomon. Now a new shape descended from the sky, but even in the dim light there was no mistaking the palpable evil of this particular visage. Reaver glinted in the darkness, emitting more darkness into the cloak of night, a sort of anti-sun glimmering in the sky.  
"So, where are the others young Hida?" Reaver raised one hand to point imperiously at Cody. Cody stiffened his jaw and looked Reaver defiantly in the eye. "Ah, so you won't tell me, no matter, I didn't need you anyway. Black Spike!"  
"Angel Wing!" Two vast screens, looking like waves of iridescent tissue paper, enfolded Cody. But, no matter how structurally unsound they looked, Reaver's attack slammed into them and dissipated harmlessly. Cody jerked to look behind him, and gasped when he turned.  
Standing there, imperiously, was a figure, human sized and shaped, but all in angular silver armor, glinting with inner light. One arm was upraised, and from it gleamed a ball of light, as bright as the sun at noon, illuminating the surrounding area in the sharp contrast of black and white. Power radiated from this figure, not only from its body in general but from the golden symbol of a sword emblazoned on its front. Fire, both silver and gold raged off and on over its body, and its gaze through the visor of its armor was a brilliant white glare. It was, at the same time, both wonderful and terrible, beauty mixed with death, and it shown as the sun to Reaver's petty shadow.  
"You!" Reaver's voice was full of terror and fear.  
"Depart this place foul one." The figure spoke in a symphony of war trumpets, blaring their deadly challenge to his opponent. "Depart and trouble this place no more with your presence, lest you face my wrath." The last word was punctuated with a blast of blue-white energy that crumpled the grass five meters from where it passed.  
Reaver shot upwards, screaming toward the heavens that had rejected him long ago. The figure watched him go, and then looked at Cody for a single moment. One hand, formerly empty, and now bearing a massive gleaming sword, raised in salute, the blade cutting through the plane of the visored gaze. And then the figure was gone, and only a faint light on the grass marked where he had been.  
  
The others were still trying to get a response from Babamon when Cody and Armadillomon, sweaty and tired, burst through the door. For a moment they stood and panted in the doorway, as everyone else stared at them curiously, before Cody realized how out of place they looked in the clean house.  
"What's wrong Cody? Babamon just slipped into this trance and we couldn't shake her out of it." Davis traded looks between the comatose Mega and the short human.  
"He couldn't stay." Babamon sat up straighter, reaching down and taking a sip of tea as if nothing had happened, and the people clustered around her were an everyday occurrence. "Without his proper body here, or near here, his power is limited. That image and those powers he displayed were there purely to protect you, and to move you and my house away from harm. That they were more than enough to crush Reaver is but a side effect. He shows quite an interest in you."  
"So why did he show up?"  
"I was warned that you might be in trouble. I am able to summon one of Citadel's Guards in the greatest of needs, and I judged that now was a good time."  
"So, he came to help me?"  
"It appears you are more important to them than any of us thought. His presence indicates that great things are in store for you. Now we are safe, for a time, and we await the future."  
About then everyone else broke in, and Cody repeated the rest of his story, and everyone was amazed, and congratulated him, and gawked at Armadillomon. And Babamon sat in a corner, drinking tea and looking wise. And generally everyone celebrated, except for TK, who thought of the man in silver armor Cody described, and a long fall off a dark mountain.  
  
In the darkness, something died horribly, tentacles twisting and heads flailing. Here was a moment of darkness and then somebody lit a match. Oikawa, his face streaming sweat and covered in dirt and a few traces of blood, looked up at his erstwhile companion. BlackWarGreymon looked like he was in worse shape, but he gave a fierce grin to reassure the man who covered his back.  
"Do you suppose that was the last of them?" Oikawa asked.  
"Probably. The rest most likely went around south to avoid this mess." BlackWarGreymon polished his claws carefully.  
"Hmmmit's never that easy." Oikawa looked around and then changed the subject. "Do you think the Digidestined have figured the truth about themselves out yet?"  
"The purpose of the crests? I doubt it." BlackWarGreymon responded.  
Oikawa nodded wisely.  
Suddenly, the space in front of them twisted like a pretzel and revealed a new face, staring out at them. Gennai spoke in a hurry. "Be warned, we've lost a squadron of Devimon variants on the southern flank. If any get through, it will be up to you to defeat them unless they head northward after a turn."  
As Gennai vanished, Oikawa pulled his coat up over his shoulders again. "It's never over, is it?"  



	11. A Beacon in the Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
  


**Episode XI  
A Beacon in the Darkness**  
  


"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I am glad you could attend this one final meeting."" Gennai, still wearing his gray and brown robes, sat down, narrowly avoiding banging his head on the hilt of the sword slung over his back.  
Ken watched in awe as the others around him sat themselves down. Oikawa was there, looking lighter and full of color like he had in those moments before he let his life force run forth. BlackWarGreymon meticulously polished his claws on a white cloth. A small, pink Digimon that Ken did not recognize sat on one corner of the table. A few humans sat around the table, but none of them bore faces he could recognize. When he tried to focus on them they slipped away, almost as if they were painted on soap bubbles that burst whenever he examined them too closely.   
"As you know, we expect full-fledged war on the frontiers soon. If that happens the support we've been lending the Digidestined will disappear. It will be up to you, and those like you, to continue supporting them in their endeavors. Now, we do have some contingencies built in, but we don't know if they will be enough. The true test will not begin until such time as they attempt to utilize or discover the true power of the crests. We hope that we will be able to guide them in this hour, but if not, it will be up to you."  
The image flickered and faded as Ken woke up, the now familiar black bracelet glowing fiercely. But the question still rang in his mind. _What were the powers of the crests?_  
  
"I'm beginning to hate mornings." Ken muttered to nobody in particular as they walked through another wisp of fog rolling over the hillside.  
"I'm still ahead of you. I've always hated mornings." Davis swung his walking stick around and everybody ducked instinctively. The first time he had done that he had almost taken off Yolei's head, the second time he had almost given TK a black eye, and once he had even started a two hour fight with Veemon. Now everyone was used to this quirk, just like they were familiar with all of their other traits.  
It was still morning, but they had left Babamon's over an hour before, and had worked hard on putting distance between themselves and what was behind them. Everyone was in a better mood, now that they had three Ultimates to protect them, the same team that had almost brought BlackWarGreymon to his knees (this was Davis' interpretation of events. Kari and Ken tended to view it as the team that had temporarily halted the Mega's rampage). With those three in their back pocket, they all had started to feel confident that they were ready to continue on against their opponents. TK was still in a bad mood, but he seemed to be feeling better.  
"I feel exposed on these hills." Kari muttered under her breath.  
"We are exposed, but at least we should be able to see anyone who's trying to sneak up on us." Gatomon looked around a little anxiously. "It should give us enough of a warning that we should be able to get out of their way."  
"Hmmm…you may be right." Kari returned, but she hardly looked reassured.  
"I know what. I'll take a quick flight and see if anything's around." Before anyone could say anything else, Hawkmon was aloft, heading skyward to gain a better vantage point. After a few moments of spiraling he returned to the ground, just as the last remains of that particular wisp of fog had passed over them, giving them a view of only partly clouded skies. "There is something out there chaps, on the other side of that big hill over there, all in a line. We'll have to go look at it to get a better idea of what it is."  
"Should we run away?" Cody asked from the rear of the group.  
"No." Ken returned. "We might as well at least know what we're up against before we start running from it."  
It took them about half an hour to creep through the long grass to the top of the next hill, where they all sprawled out in the dark, polished rocks on the top of the mound. For a moment they sat and regained their bearings. To the direction that Ken thought of as north, simply by assuming the sun rose in the east and set in the west, there was a chain of mountains running like a vast arm from a higher Range they could see in the distance over to one side. Westward stretched a vast plain, moving toward the horizon in an interwoven tapestry of green and brown, here and there crossed with the lighter brown of roads and the muddy blue of rivers that led to some distant ocean. Off to the east there were higher hills, rising up enough to block all attempts to see further in that direction, but from what Ken had analyzed earlier, they led only to the sea. On the ground to the northwest there ran a large road, made of dry-packed dirt, and on it they could easily spy movement.  
"What is it?" Davis hissed after a moment of being completely unable to resolve any sort of coherent image from the distance.  
Ken yanked out the scanner and quickly set it up, running a brief diagnostic check. After a few moments he set it into SCAN mode, and let the machine do its running for him. There were a few subdued flashes of light, and then more images appeared on the screen, spreading out to illustrate his targets.  
"Okay, we seem to have a group of Monochromon pulling a set of carts. There are some Woodmon around, maybe as guards, but I'm really not sure what they're doing. They appear to be going down the road."  
"So we should leave them alone?" Wormmon asked.  
"Maybe, maybe not Wormmon. That road curves up after the next hill. It starts going in the direction we want to go. Maybe we should follow them while sticking to the hillsides. That way we could see if they're going anyplace we want to go, and if they could make our lives easier."  
"Sounds like a plan to me." Veemon raised both arms in another pose from televised wrestling. Gatomon just sighed.  
"Let's go then." Ken pointed.  
Moments later, only the disturbed earth marked where they had just passed by.  
  
"I wonder who used to live here." Yolei shuddered as she walked under the overhanging veranda that stood above them, now an imposing structure instead of a gentle green one.  
"I don't know. There was a whole city like this under Machinedramon's rule back in the Digital World once." Kari looked around. "It was just as empty, and we never found out the purpose of that one either. I was sick most of the time so I don't remember much of it, but Tai told me later that it was huge."  
"Well, those words describe this one all right." Hawkmon noted clinically. "Huge and empty."  
All around them they were surrounded by buildings. This was a city, like the ones in Japan, only bearing a mysterious air around it. There was no noise anywhere save the various chirping of assorted birds and the rustle of the wind as it spread through trees and vegetation. Three and four story buildings surrounded them, rising harshly into the sky, their right angled walls and corners cutting off observation, windows gleaming dark and empty. Off in the distance they could see skyscrapers, rectangular obelisks much like the structures back home, cutting into the sky as they pronounced their unnatural origin to all viewers. Asphalt and concrete paved the way in front of them, leading past large windows, sometimes filled with faded signs and sun-bleached goods, sometimes empty or broken.  
Closer examination revealed that the city was empty, and had been for some time. There was no wholesale destruction, no evidence of some great war, pestilence or famine, simply a vast emptiness, as if the denizens of the city had evacuated, and never come back. In the buildings that they had already broken into they had found no personal goods, except for some few trinkets left behind, no edible food, nothing of great use. Yolei had remarked that it just looked like everybody had up and left, and everyone else agreed with this assessment, although it did not make anything less creepy at all. In fact, the emptiness increased that feeling of loneliness that dwelt around them.  
It was the presence of everything that made it feel so darn creepy, as Ken had noted. Everywhere things were perfectly laid out for human habitation, as if the inhabitants were only away for a few moments. The patina of age overlaid on the city only refined that impression, as if everything were waiting for the return of their owners. At any moment they expected to be hailed or greeted by a shopkeeper coming out of their shop, or a passerby wandering through the city streets. They expected to be beset by the steady sounds of traffic and the cheerful yelling of young children. A part of them waited for the inevitable good-natured cursing of the gardeners as they sought to control the outbreaks of weeds and uncontrolled vegetation throughout the cityscape. Silence, thick as a down comforter, felt uneasy and out of place in such a city, and had become especially unnerving.  
"Well, I guess nobody does live here." Veemon looked around another time and shrugged.  
"Great. That means that we get the whole place to ourselves. I get dibs on anything good." Davis looked around as if he meant to loot the stores right then.  
"Davis!" Cody exclaimed, looking rather startled.  
"He does have a point." Ken noted. "Whoever lived here obviously hasn't been here in a long time. We might need some of these things more than they do, and we can only hope that we find something good."  
"Somebody does live here." Kari pointed out rather quickly. "We saw that convoy pull in here, and they haven't come out yet. That means that somebody is here, probably downtown. We should go take a look, it should be easy in this mess."  
"Over there." TK pointed. Everyone stared at him. He had not been saying much all day, lost in brooding over some internal war. It seemed that he had been losing. Now there was a different light in his eyes, but they all recognized that the shadow that had been steadily overcoming him was still there, and only had changed a little.  
"Where?" Patamon asked. "I don't see anything." He continued, trying to draw his partner out, arouse his interest in something.  
"Through the buildings. They look connected. Try to stay off the streets and out of the open to keep from getting seen. Too much clutter inside for then to keep track of, too many hiding places for them to search. Stay in the shadows and keep out of sight." Having released his barely informative statement he once more lapsed back into uncharacteristic silence. Everyone exchanged brief looks.  
"Right." Davis responded first after a moment of quiet thought. "We'll sneak through the buildings if we can and stay out of sight. That way we can observe whatever's going on without being seen ourselves."  
"Sounds like a plan." Gatomon looked back over her shoulder at Patamon, who was shifting around, as if trying to get TK to respond. It was hard to tell if TK even realized that he was still carrying his partner around on the top of his head. Kari sighed once, and Ken looked distinctly pained.  
"So how do we do this?" Davis asked after a moment as they peered through the doorway into the nearest building, which appeared to be the ground floor of some sort of apartment complex.  
"I go first." Ken looked back over his shoulder. "I've seen the rest of you try and sneak around, and although you aren't bad, I'm best cut out to go first. Cody can follow with the rest of you." With barely another word he was off, his black form blending almost effortlessly into the shadows created by walls. After a few moments, Cody shrugged and the rest of them followed.  
Ken slipped through buildings like a quiet shadow, carrying Wormmon quite comfortably in a backpack he picked up in the first store they wandered through. His eyes pierced the shadows, but they rarely found anything of real interest, and his main job was to warn those who followed him of dead ends and unsteady floors. The rest of the group spread out, sometimes stopping to see if there was anything worth taking around, sometimes just following mutely. They wandered through a network of apartments and small family-type stores, most of whom had lost anything they had a long time ago.  
Then, slowly, the landscape changed. A large building loomed ahead of them, and after a few tense moments crossing an empty street and yard, they burst inside. Immediately, thanks to the layout and the rooms, everyone recognized it as a school, something that brought a few tears of homesickness to various eyes. Schoolrooms, long without any students, brought a few moments of consideration, and Ken picked up a few disk-like objects in one room that looked like they might fit in one of the scanners many drives, but otherwise there was not much around. Veemon found a set of bathrooms and showers, but the water had long ago ceased functioning, and they were denied even the pleasure of cleaning up.  
After that there were a few more blocks of apartment buildings, but these apartments were much bigger. Stops were made often, and Davis crammed his Mobius Box full of a variety of small items that he picked up here and there, marveling at its unlimited carrying capacity. Yolei figured out the potential of that particular item, and soon they were carrying blankets and bedclothes and cooking gear as well. After awhile though they got tired of raiding the apartments and stopped, feeling as if they had been, in some way, stealing from the tombs of the dead.  
By midday they were all very subdued and were eating their lunch of dried fruits and other goods carried from the forest in the middle of what must have been, at one time, a fairly expensive lounge. Everyone was a little afraid of the shadows, and when Veemon and Hawkmon accidentally knocked over one of the large, stuffed, armchairs the resulting bang sent everyone running for cover. It took awhile for everyone to creep back into the middle of the room, and they were all feeling a little timid.  
After that they entered an area that was mostly office buildings instead of apartments. The landscape was less crowded, so there was more of a break between buildings, but at one time it must have been the rage to plant oak-like trees in rows, and now they were able to run from the shade of one tree to the shade of the next tree. This still lead to a lot of tense moments, because by now everyone was seeing shadows everywhere. Ken and Davis insisted on exploring some part of every office building, looking for something of interest or importance, but only found numerous documents in languages they could not read, and the hollow shells of computers long since dead.   
However, several office buildings from the beginning, they did find out, at least in some part, why the city was deserted.  
"Come look at this." Hissed Gatomon from where she had bounded down a stairwell, to the rest of the group, who were looking around on the first floor.  
"What is it Gatomon?" Kari asked, interested in whatever her partner was interested in.  
Gatomon simply shook her head and bounded back upstairs. The rest of them followed until they found the white cat sitting in front of a large window several floors up, looking toward the center of the city, her white tail twitched anxiously. Ken, who reached the window first, squinted at the city and then gasped.  
Looking out the windows they could see down a straight, wide road that ran from the foot of the building they were in down to the center of the city. From this point they could see that the office building they were in, a plain rectangle of concrete, glass and steel, was actually a monument of sorts, placed on top of a hill overlooking city center. Down below them was a huge asphalt circle, and then a road that was at least as wide as a ten lane freeway would be back home. The next row of buildings in front of them was in the same shape that all the other buildings they had passed through had been, but the ones after that were ruffled, dirty and almost ruined. Gradually, as the buildings approached city center, they got more and more destroyed. Gaping holes in the concrete walls revealed structural steel, bent, twisted and half-melted by whatever had happened there. Vehicles that looked vaguely like cars, except a lot more angular, had been dragged around at impossible angles to create little clusters on many of the roads that Ken could see. Huge holes had been blasted in pavement and dirt alike, reaching down out of sight, many of them now sporting small outgrowths of plants. Off in one direction, over a set of low buildings, they could see a park filled with greenery, but there was an odd pattern to the trees, as if a forest had been reduced by blasts of fire, until the remnant was riddled with huge tree-less holes. Windows, gleaming in the waning sun, revealed huge shatter marks and what could have been bullet holes through many of them. Magnificent as the skyline must once have been, it was now marked by buildings that had obviously been reduced in size, many of them missing what looked like entire floors off of their tops.  
"Someone fought a war here." Gatomon remarked quietly.  
"What do you mean by that?" Yolei asked.  
Gatomon turned upward, some painful elder memory lurking in her deep eyes. "When I worked for Myostismon, he used to make me come along as he did his petty deeds. There was a small city, run by mostly Agumon and such in the ends of his domain that resisted his rule. He came upon them with his army and destroyed the entire city, but the Agumon fought back with great skill along with the other Digimon in the city. Myotismon won in the end, but the city was in ruins. And it looked a lot like this, only this is much, much bigger.  
"I don't think these were the inhabitants Gatomon." Ken seemed to be deep in thought, the wreckage and destruction he was facing was clearly influencing his thinking. "I think all of the citizens themselves got out safe. These were the soldiers of two armies that were fighting here."  
"Why do you say that Ken?" Davis asked after a bit.  
"Because we haven't seen any signs of struggle elsewhere. Do you think the inhabitants would have surrendered that easily if they fought this much? I think they were evacuated first, and then the two sides fought it out here. I think the city's side lost though, or else they would have come back."  
"Probably." Yolei agreed.  
"How sad." Kari remarked after a bit, still staring out at the city, whose ruins had a mesmerizing effect in the sun. "To have their entire city like this destroyed, it must have been horrible. And to fight for a dead city, that must have been horrible too."  
"I think this is part of how the Dark took this world over." Ken remarked to nobody in particular. "They must have fought wars like this all over."  
"It's horrible." Kari whispered again after a moment.  
"That's why we're here." Patamon spoke up unexpectedly. "To stop things like this from ever happening on Earth."  
"I agree." Even Davis sounded subdued.  
"Look, what's that?" Cody, who had remained silent in the face of the destruction, suddenly thrust out his arm at a few specks turning into the road. They were far away, but the gait and the pace made them much easier to identify.  
"It looks like those wagons that we were following earlier. I wonder what they're doing here." Hawkmon noted.  
"Let's follow them." Veemon suggested.  
"Better idea." TK mumbled, as if speaking from a great distance away. Everyone turned to look at him again. "Wait here, rest until dark. Sleep in couches over there. Follow them when it's dark. Nobody sees us."  
They all exchanged glances and shrugged. Ken and Davis both nodded, and a few moments later they were solidly enclosed by a little fort of cushions ripped off of sofas and chairs throughout the building, basking in the warmth of the sun.  
  
"Brrrrr. It's cold out here." Yolei noted.  
"Duh. It is night after all Yolei." Davis responded as his usual disrespectful self, but even he was having a hard time keeping from shivering in the sudden burst of cold. Still it was easier for the group to creep through the ruins unseen at night than it was to sneak through them in broad daylight. Even now they were approaching the city center.  
It appeared that their secrecy had been merited. Patamon and Gatomon, who had the best ears, reported the sounds of moving Digimon at several times during the night, each time leading to a sudden freeze in activity. Armadillomon had felt several different strange tremors reach up to him from beneath in the earth, each time sending little shivers over his spine. Ken once caught a glance of a pair of Monochromon stalking up one street in the moonlight, disappearing around a corner. It appeared that this place, ruinous as it was, remained inhabited in some shape or form, but in a manner which they had yet to determine.  
So, when Patamon, his huge ears extended, suddenly froze up, everyone stopped along with him, and when he whispered hurriedly to them that they had to hide, everyone stared at him for the briefest of moments before dodging behind furniture or under desks that were all around the former office complex, on what must have at one time been a carpeted floor. Everyone was trying to avoid breathing when there was a sound from outside, and then a pair of Mushroomon walked in through the door, heading right past their hiding places.  
"All I'm saying." One was telling the other as they walked through the doorway. "Is that the Lady ain't gonna like it if the Captain doesn't figure out a way to keep them outta here."  
"They can't be too tough. I heard they're just a bunch of kids and rookies." One Mushroomon leaned idly on a desk that Cody and Armadillomon were hiding under.  
"Yeah, well I also heard they beat a Phantomon down south somewhere, and that they took out SkullGreymon's place with him in it. You can have them if you want."  
"The Lady seems to think that our troops can handle them, but I think she would be really upset if they got into the Pit."  
"Yeah, well the Captain told me they might show up this week sometime."  
"I hope so, things have been a little boring lately."  
"Man, things'll never get that boring." The two of them left the room.  
After a few minutes the group clambered out from under whatever they had hid with.   
"It looks like we're expected." Veemon noted.  
"Yes, but it leaves a good question." Kari pointed out.  
"Indeed." Ken had sunk back into thought again. "What's the Pit?"  
  
"That answers one question." Yolei noted, staring through her glasses. "But raises another. What's it for?"  
Once there must have been a park in the center of the town, but now there was only a huge piece of torn earth, a pit, dug from the topsoil by the hands of hundreds of workers. Here and there the glint of machinery and the foul smoke of various mechanical implements gleamed in the darkness, giving the whole place an eerie feeling. Even now, late at night, there were still a handful of workers laboring under artificial lighting, dragging what appeared to be wheelbarrows into and out of the hole in the ground. The Pit was five or six stories deep, but the sides were filled in with long sloping ramps, and those ramps mounted small floodlights, just like a night time construction project back home. Everywhere they looked they could see piles of earth and rock and rubble from the project, marking the landscape like a giant pox.   
"It looks like another mining operation." Ken peered over the windowsill in the small, wrecked room that they were crouched in, adjacent to the Pit. "But in the middle of a city?"  
Yolei for a moment looked like she was on to something. "Patamon, Gatomon, Wormmon, you've been in the Digital World for a bit, right?"  
"Well, yes." The three responded. "Why?"  
"When you were travelling all over the Digital World, do you remember seeing a lot of mines? I certainly don't remember any, but maybe I just went to all the wrong places."  
The three Digimon exchanged quick, confused, glances, and then shook their heads at the question. Gatomon spoke up for all of them. "No, I've never seen too many mining operations. It just isn't something that happens. I've seen one or two, and heard of some others, but they were there to build homes for Gotsumon really. I don't know why there would be more."  
"Hmmmm…so I'm right."  
"I think I see where you're going, but you better continue." Ken told her.  
"Well, the way I see it, the Digimon really don't do that much. Oh sure, they make nice houses and stuff, but the way I was told, they can do that with their own skills. They don't use metal money, and they don't have that much interest in building huge ships and the like, so what do they need with a mine? It just doesn't make any sense."  
"Humans use mines." Patamon pointed out.  
"Yes." Ken sounded like he was brooding over something. "But humans can't cut down trees with their breath and can't shape farms with their bare hands. Digimon can, since they have enough power. And given the fact that we haven't seen huge metal-using factories or anything, there is a question. What are they doing?"  
"What happened here that they had to open a mine in the middle of a ruined city. Obviously it's something that only appears here." Yolei continued thinking.  
"It's not a mine. It's an excavation." Ken exclaimed.  
"What does it matter?" Davis asked suddenly.  
"Why do you run an archeological dig?" Ken asked him, still thinking to himself.  
"Exercise?" Davis suggested, and then saw that Ken was not joking.  
"Because you're looking for something. What are they looking for?"  
  
"I don't like this." Yolei noted, but she whispered it instead of shouting it out loud, as she was wont to do when frustrated.  
"I know, but we don't have a better way to do this." Kari looked back down into the Pit, which was barely visible from their position on top of one of the piles of dirt that seemed to be in some disuse. "If we want to find out what's in there, we'll do a better job when we're all split up than if we all stick in one place."  
"I agree with this, but it seems to be making us a little too vulnerable."  
"Just stay quiet and don't worry about it."  
"Okay."  
Kari, from her vantage point, and with her knowledge of what was going on, could catch occasional glimpses of TK and Cody as they worked their way around the edge of the Pit in the darkness. She could see nothing of Ken, but Davis stood out a lot more in the various openings along the way. Inside the Pit all she could see were crowds of Gotsumon, Numemon and Drimogemon endlessly shoveling dirt out of the way, where it was carted back up the surface, and taken away by Monochromon. The operation took place under the supervision of a handful of different Digimon, a squadron of Ogremon and Gardromon staring down into the Pit. Each of the worker Digimon had a dark ring placed around them somewhere, but Kari was unable to see any sort of control device anywhere.  
"So what are they looking for?" Yolei asked after a moment.  
"I can't tell." Kari whispered back.  
Some of Ken's magic kicked off at that moment, and their D3 crackled just a little, enough to let them know it was there. He had rigged up the communication system some time ago, but this was the first real field test of his programming, and they were all hoping that it would prove more than enough.  
"Kari, Ken here. I can't see them assembling anything special that they're trying to take out or something. I mean, you would think that if they're digging something up that they would be assembling it right now, but I can't seem to find it." Ken's voice was a little scratchy, but it seemed clear. "Can either you or TK see anything?"  
"I see nothing like that. I don't know what they're going to take out of here." Kari replied, looking a little closer, but still seeing nothing.  
"I see nothing." TK still sounded a little out of it.  
"Right, so what does that mean?"  
"It means," Yolei interrupted the conversation. "that they might be looking for something specific. If it isn't that common, it will take a lot of work to find it."  
"I wonder how special it is?" Ken asked.  
"Very special." Kari replied.  
"Can you get a little closer?"   
"I think we can, how about you guys TK?"  
"Possibly…no, we better not." Cody spoke up this time. "They're some guards heading off over here."  
"Wonderful." Kari whispered as she slipped down the side of the dirt mound. Her legs wobbled a little, but they held, and the dirt did not rush away in torrents to reveal their location. Yolei, Hawkmon and Gatomon followed quickly afterwards.  
It was a nervous climb. Every moment they tried to hold their breath, hoping that nobody would discover them, standing conspicuous on the hillside. Whenever a work party headed near them further down the slope they stopped dead, waiting with wide and frightened eyes until the work group trekked farther on. Guards wandered below them at random intervals, and every time that happened all four of them froze up, hoping that there was not a single piece of dirt that would roll down the hill, a single pebble that would reveal their location. But somehow they managed to stay fleet footed enough to avoid all those entanglements, and eventually reached a place deep inside the Pit unseen and relatively unscathed.  
"So now what?" Hawkmon asked, but the others were already down and looking in. Kari had to agree with Ken, there did not seem to be any point in the mining. The workers continued working, they were too set on their ways to do anything else, but all their work seemed to be centered on digging out dirt. There was no shout of excitement or discovery, nothing that was dug out that seemed to be anything other than dirt. There was nothing that could have been interpreted as the foundations for a building of any shape or size or consequence. Everything appeared to be completely without point.  
"I don't see anything Ken. This doesn't make any sense." Yolei was whispering into her D3. Gatomon seemed to be evaluating the possibility of freeing the slaves that were digging, but from the look on her face, the prospects were grim. Kari was trying to interpret the sudden rush of feeling in her hand.  
Suddenly, her gaze dropped to the ivory ring that she was still wearing. It glowed, just a little in the darkness, not enough to reveal their location, but enough to reveal that there was indeed something of interest here. For a moment it just sat there, glowing, with Kari staring at it, and then the ring seemed to jump on her finger, pulling her off toward one side. Following the gentle tug on her arm, she plunged her hand into the dirt nearby, and surprisingly found it soft, unlike the harder material that they walked on to get to where they were. For a moment it felt like the ring was melting the rock and dirt away from it, and then Kari felt it jerk a last time. Her hand moved almost of its own accord, and her grasping fingers closed around something hard, cold and smoothed, like polished glass. Yolei and Hawkmon were still staring down into the pit, but Gatomon was watched, and she and Kari both gasped as what she had found was pulled into the light.  
It was a crystal, polished so that it gleamed even in the faint light of the stars above, reflecting that light and only that light, not the glare of the nearby work lights. It was cut so that it resembled nothing so much as two elongated pyramids, placed base to base. From the color and the transparency Kari normally would have described it as some variety of diamond, except for the fact that the middle of the crystal looked inherently suspicious. Glowing in the middle seemed to be something like a small star itself, glowing with silver twinkling light at the human who had come to claim its allegiance. All in all the jewel was magnificent, a treasure that would appease any royal princess with its perfection. It was also about the size of Kari's arm.  
"What is it?" Gatomon asked quietly, almost reverently. In response to the noise Yolei whipped around and the gem began to emit faint motes of light that swirled and danced in the air, giving Kari the impression that the crystal was singing in its own peculiar way.  
"I think…" she responded, very slowly. "that this is what they've been looking for all this time."  
"I suggest that we get out of here." Yolei whispered to them. She was gaping at the crystal.  
They had barely made it to the lip of the Pit, scrambling hurriedly upward, when there was a disturbance at the bottom. Something so black that it blotted out the light behind it, making it stand out against the night, descended from the sky, completely without the motion of any wings or such. Nothing moved unexpectedly, there was no rush of wind, like there was from some of their higher speed re-entries, but there was a wave of silence that reached out from it, something that was much more worrisome.  
"I feel it." A familiar voice called out of the gloom. "It grows close to the surface, or perhaps it already has reached the light of the stars. It must not be allowed to escape. Do you understand me?"  
"LadyDevimon." All four of them muttered at the same time.  
"Wait, it breathes starlight and moonlight. It has arisen. There must be intruders here, in the Pit, to expose it so readily. Quickly, move and seal this place off. Go, go!" LadyDevimon soared upwards as the sudden tramp of feet announced the arrival of black ringed workers at the top of the pit, glaring down into the depths at the darkness in which the four of them were trapped.  
"We need a diversion." Yolei whispered into her D3.  
"Maybe if we freed the slaves." Kari thought out loud.  
"Yeah, but we can't. Remember?" Gatomon was sounding really anxious now, and looking it too.  
But Kari ignored her feline companion, staring down at the crystal in her hand. _Break the dark rings_, she thought frantically, _you must break the dark rings. Break. Break. Break!_  
Suddenly the crystal in her hand flared up like the noonday sun. For a moment, the light shone, but not blindingly, at least not to them. And in that moment they were silhouetted so well that someone standing on the other side of the city could probably pick out who they were from the vast shadows that went streaking up to the sky. All thoughts of concealment were abandoned before that dreadful light.  
And then every dark ring in the Pit shattered.  
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then everything turned into a mass of confused faces and sudden battle. Monochromon, Gotsumon and Drimogemon turned on their guards with a sudden savageness that astonished their captors. However, their former guards quickly sensed that only one side would survive this particular battle, and they quickly returned as good as they got. LadyDevimon seemed unconcerned by this sudden outbreak of hostilities, and swooped down on the four of them like the fallen angel she was.  
"How rude you are, trying to steal the treasure I've worked so hard to find. I'll have to give you a piece of my mind over this. A painful piece."  
"Maybe you should go trim your nails. Hawkmon, go!"  
"Hawkmon digivolves to….Aquilamon."  
"Aquilamon….digivolves to….Silphymon!"  
"So, that's it. You think this chicken footed freak can scare me away?" LadyDevimon snorted at them.  
"Mind if we join in?" Paildramon dropped out of the sky directly behind Silphymon.  
"Maybe you would appreciated picking on somebody ten times your size." Shakkuomon loomed against the city background, blotting out significant portions of the sky with his bulk.  
"Think that scares me? Darkness Wave!"  
"Static Force!" "Desperado Blasters!" "Harmonious Spirit!" The waves of bats exploded back into LadyDevimon's face as the attack was blasted away by three different Ultimate level Digimon.  
"You guys go and help the slaves, we'll hold LadyDevimon here." Kari shouted, gesturing wildly to the others. Paildramon and Shakkuomon exchanged quick glances and then lumbered off into the raging fight that had begun below.  
"Well really, now that was foolish." LadyDevimon leapt forward, only to be met by Silphymon in midair. Quickly, the two were embroiled in a fantastic aloft combat as they twisted and turned around each other, punching and kicking out at each other with lightning quick blows.  
For a few moments it looked like Silphymon had the upper hand, and then LadyDevimon swung her massive clawed hand down, and the Ultimate slammed hard into the ground. With one opponent temporarily out of the battle, LadyDevimon began to glare evilly at Kari, who still held the crystal in one hand.  
"No!" There was a shout and then a blur of motion. TK sprang over both of the girls' heads in a flying kick, doing little damage, but getting LadyDevimon's full and undivided attention. He then proceeded to do the most insanely dangerous thing that Kari had ever seen in her life, bouncing off of LadyDevimon's body, from clawed hand to shoulder to knee, always lashing out with his staff, striking again and again. Every movement was as controlled and precise as it was desperate, each strike rolled out like a hammer, retracting with the speed of a striking snake. His hands and his eyes flashed in deadly synchroneity, and his whirlwind attack would have felled a lesser Digimon.  
"Digivolve!" Kari screamed, nearly out of her mind, at Patamon, who had flown up behind them.  
But Patamon just shook his head. "I can't. TK isn't giving me the right kind of energy, and I can't take it without killing him now. I'm sorry, I can't help you."  
But LadyDevimon was powerful as well, and with one hand, she moved suddenly, crunching his body so hard that Kari thought she could hear bones breaking. Then, with great force, the fallen angel slammed him into the ground, sending him sprawling into a limp, boneless heap. Kari leapt forward to stand in front of him, her feet moving without her conscious mind's command. Every muscle in her body strained in focus, concentrated on saving TK at any cost. And then, as LadyDevimon stared down at her, she could feel her chest catch fire.  
"Gatomon…digivolves to…Angewomon!"  
For a moment there was stillness again, and then the blonde angel slammed into her opponent like a storm itself unanchored. One hand drew back and momentarily blazed with glorious pink-tinged light, and then delivered a crushing blow to LadyDevimon's jaw. LadyDevimon responded by trying to rake Angewomon painfully with her razor sharp claws, but a white gloved hand caught the deadly blows in the midst of their plunging. For a moment the two of them stood, facing each other in a silent parody of some statue in a museum, and then LadyDevimon kicked out, hitting Angewomon squarely in the stomach, and sending her twisting backwards. The angel reeled, but twisted and caught her opponent across the jaw with a buffet from one of her steadily glowing wings.  
Disengaging, the two combatants circled each other warily, and then struck back into the middle of combat. Blows were quickly intercepted, and in a matter of moments, they represented statues again, straining in their immobility in a fierce struggle, before breaking back into a continuing whirlwind of motion.  
"Darkness -!" LadyDevimon began, when Angewomon kicked her solidly in the stomach, apparently driving the ability to launch the attack right out of her. Angewomon looked like she was about to mouth out one of her own attacks in response, when LadyDevimon struck her back across the face with her claws in revenge. Angewomon, jerking back in sudden pain, kept enough wits about her to drive her knee deep into her opponents chest. Then they were at it in a blur of hands that nobody could keep track of, darting and weaving in and out.  
Finally, there was a break. LadyDevimon managed to shake Angewomon off for a moment, sending her careening to the ground, and immediately stomped downward with a flurry of kicks. Angewomon was not completely out of it at this point though, and a shield of pink light speedily appeared around her, causing the incoming attacks to slip and slide off, or be harmlessly absorbed by the glowing wall. This stalemate only lasted for a few moments before Angewomon launched out with both legs in a tremendous kick, but LadyDevimon merely slid out of her opponent's reach.  
Then, so fast that later Kari could not credit it, Angewomon surged upward and made her move. The pink ribbon that Kari had always thought as merely decorative snaked out at an incredible speed and wrapped one end around LadyDevimon's clawed hand, and pulled back quickly. A trick that simple could never have moved the Ultimate far, but it put LadyDevimon off balance for a bit too long. Angewomon surged up suddenly, an avenging angel once more, grabbing LadyDevimon's now outstretched arm and continuing the downward pull, slamming her dark opponent into the ground and dropping on top of her.  
LadyDevimon mouthed something horrible, and tried to escape the weight pinning her down, but it was no use. Then the dark angel moved the only claw that still had purchase and raked her new captor down the leg with those long talons, leaving bloody trails in their wake. Angewomon screamed at the pain, but brought one white-gloved hand down onto LadyDevimon's throat and managed to get out two words. "Heaven's Charm". Immediately, a blast of pink light reached down from her hand into LadyDevimon, and the evil Digimon was suddenly a blast of disintegrating data.  
"Quick, help the others." Yolei screamed, and a recovered Silphymon, and barely limping Angewomon soared off to finish off the guards. Kari, however, stayed put, frantically looking into TK's eyes, which now seemed empty and dead.  
  
"I can't believe you did something so stupid TK!" Davis raged afterwards. The whole group was sitting, exhausted, on a mountainside some distance away from the ruins of the city, courtesy of Paildramon and Silphymon. TK had not said a single word since leaving the city, but he seemed to accept the fact that he had accomplished very little in the battle. Everyone else being mad at him for risking his life in such an insane manner seemed only incidental to that. Kari had not said a word to him, still recovering from the awful fright he had given her.  
"He's right." TK mumbled, so softly that nobody but Patamon heard. "I can't do this without Hope. I wish I had it back."  
"You were pretty reckless, and you didn't exactly help Patamon to Digivolve." Ken sounded upset, but not as angry as some of them.   
"Darn right he didn't." Davis was still on the warpath.  
"They have a point." Yolei conceded.  
Cody still said nothing.  
"I failed everybody." TK muttered again, and this time Patamon shot a worried glance around, but only Gatomon was paying any attention to him, and her eyes were just as wide with confusion. Something had been wrong with TK, and Patamon was beginning to wonder what it was, something about those dreams was weighing so heavily on his mind that he was beginning to forget who he was.  
"TK, what you did back there was terrible. You didn't help Patamon digivolve at all, you risked yourself horribly, and you almost got Kari and Angewomon killed trying to protect you!" Davis spoke the last part in a rising growl. "With your Digimon unable to digivolve when we need it, you're the riskiest member here. If you keep this up, you're going to kill everyone on the team!"  
But something in what he said had finally gone to far, pushed TK through the last barrier that had been blocking him. His eyes came up, and something was burning in them that nobody could name, an emotion so deep that is shook everyone to their core. The entire grove fell silent, even the crickets in the bushes seeming to catch the mood and toning down their incessant noise a notch. While Davis tried to stammer something out, and everyone else just stared, TK got up slowly and moved to the center of the circle. With a trembling hand he plucked the D3 from his belt and stared at it for a moment, his eyes full of broken dreams and lost memories and stories that he had never told. And then, one great tear welling up in one eye, he dropped it in the dirt. There was a poof of dust as it hit the ground, and a dull thunk, but no other reaction. The light had gone off inside.  
"Patamon." Even his voice was brittle now, tired and lost. "Help look after the others while I'm gone. Okay?"  
Patamon looked around frantically, but he could see neither a sign of hope or deliverance from his awful dilemma.  
Then TK smiled sadly, as if bidding them all a final farewell, and walked off into the woods, swiftly disappearing from sight, as everyone stared after him for a moment. Then Davis broke the strange freeze that had gripped him.  
"TK! NO, I didn't mean it! Come back, we need you, come back!" he broke off suddenly, and now tears were running down his cheeks. "Why did I do it? Why did I do it? TK!"  
But his only answer was the whistling of the wind through the branches.  



	12. Where Angels Fear to Tread

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon: Digital Monsters. Nor do I claim to.  
Author's Note: We're nearing the end of this particular story arc, and I was thinking of continuing it in another story, but I would appreciate any input from the readers. Otherwise, enjoy.   


**Episode XII**  
**Where Angels Fear to Tread**  
  


"TK! Come back, come back!" The words echoed forlornly through the mountainous hills, as if someone had been calling out a long way away, and only the vagrancy of the wind had brought the words drifting into the region. Even though the voice was faint, almost dwindling into oblivion as the waves of sound, washed endlessly between tree branches and shrubs, were beaten down by time and distance into a mere shadow of its former self, they still cut like a knife in the heart of one boy, running aimlessly through a dark wood.  
"Can't go back, can't go back" he cried to himself, and his feet carried him until he collapsed.  
  
That night the dream came, but more fierce than ever before.  
He could feel every particle of the wind as it blew around him, feel the shadows beneath him, the depths of the valley below yawing wide beneath him to receive his battered and broken body on stone teeth, sharpened by the flow of ages of rain. The man in front of him was looking at him with an expression that he could not define, calm and dispassionate, removed from the world in which the he dwelled.  
"You left your friends." It was not a question, but a statement.  
"I couldn't help them anymore. I was slowing them, I wasn't strong enough to get my Digimon to Digivolve. I couldn't use my crest. I was useless, and then I tried running awful risks to redeem myself, and nothing worked, nothing. It was horrible." The boy was crying now, his tears soaking the ground beneath his feet. The man appeared unmoved by the emotion and unimpressed by the testimony.  
"The power is your own, you know." The man told him flatly, without a hint of anything in his voice except the coldness of the machine. "That which may either save or damn your friends and companions is your own. The crest is beyond anything you know, even now."  
"I tried to use it. I tried and tried and tried, but nothing happened. Really, I did."  
"Then why can't you use the crest? Have you forgotten its meaning?"  
"I.I just.maybe I have."  
"What is Hope?"  
"Hope is.hope isalways thinking that there is a way out of somethingright?"  
The man shook his head implacably, like some vast statue that had been animated briefly, for that one moment, and then returned to his immobility, a fluke of nature that something so stationary had actually moved at all. For a moment that seemed like all he would do, shake his head in a simple denial, and abandon that which now lay at his feet. Then he spoke, and when he did, there was nothing but unearthly thunder in his voice, a sound that could have shattered mountains, destroyed worlds.  
"What is Courage?"  
"Courage isnot being afraid of anythingbeing able to run into a burning building to save children because you're not afraid of fire, like that."  
The man shook his head again, and then, in one swift movement, so fast that the boy could not remember having seen him move at all, the man had grabbed him by the collar, yanking him upright and holding him, dangling in a spaghetti-like mess of limp arms and legs over the side of the cliff.  
"Are you afraid?" he bellowed.  
"YES!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs, howling in an animal panic that nobody could have matched.  
"Then there is time and chance for you yet." The man replied, and hurled him from the cliff.  
  
Takeru Takaishi, TK sometimes, sometimes just Takeru, sometimes nobody at all, jerked awake, pained in a dozen places. His first thought was that this time he might actually have made the horrible fall into the depths of the mountain, but then he remembered that he was much too intact to have experienced that. Complaints from bruised muscles seemed to be a result of having slept in one of the most awkward positions that he had ever experienced, wedged tightly inbetween two trees, collapsed over the roots. His stomach growled, his throat hurt, and every part of him ached.  
This time the dream had been real, intense beyond almost all measure, something that had echoed in his heart, in his mind like a stampede of elephants, set loose without any guidance, destined to run rampant through his innards. Gut-wrenching fear and the steady rushing pump of adrenaline from overworked glands still cascaded through his body in differing amounts and quantities, trying desperately to tie his overworked organs into little knots.  
Shortly after this sensation registered, there was the rush, like an unpleasant odor, or a tidal wave of the slush of the mind, of unfamiliar memories, unpleasant ones from last night rushing back into his head. Memories of last night rushed into his head, and grabbed at his soul in a sensation that almost literally turned his whole world on its head. Now he knew what had finally broken at last, and where the despair that had burrowed permanently in next to heart had led him. He had left the path that had once seemed so wide, and was now condemned to wander forever, lost and alone.  
He stretched automatically, his mind on other things, and suddenly gave a shocked gasp that echoed in the morning stillness. There, standing there like some silent sentinel, some monument to a forgotten past long gone, its once straight sides eroded by the passage of uncaring generations, stood the mountain. It appeared just like it did in the dream, standing alone in the outgrowth of old forest, a single column leading to the sky, somehow separated from the other pinnacles of rock around. There was a single, smooth surface of rock, from which he had dropped so many times in his dreams, falling down into infinity, but now he could see the bottom and the base clearly.  
His mind focused. There was the answer. It was there, on the portentous peak, that all of his questions would find answers, or where he would meet destiny at last.  
  
"We've looked almost everywhere." Ken muttered to Gatomon as together they headed back to the base camp they had established earlier that morning. Wormmon trudged alongside, now even more subdued than usual by the sudden shift in events. Gatomon merely nodded.  
"Hey guys." Yolei and Hawkmon emerged from a pile of rocks, bearing the dirt and gravel on their clothes that demonstrated physically the meticulous method of their search. They also did not look particularly enthusiastic.  
"Uh, guys" Ken turned to the Digimon, blushing a peculiar shade of red. "Could you take a last look around the trees or something? Yolei and I need to have a little talk."  
"Oh, okay." The various conversation, gossip and interaction with the Digimon was not present in this dim morning. Above, the gray sky promised even further retribution for their attempts to cheer each other up, a prediction of vague horrors yet to come.  
Ken sat down and self-consciously wrapped an arm around Yolei's sagging shoulders. Any other day this would have made both of them red as tomatoes, but today was not a day in which such an emotion was present. Now they were emotional lifelines for each other, something they needed so desperately they did not bother to try and deny it.  
"So how bad is it?" Ken asked after a few quiet moments.  
"Bad. I think Kari was trying to take TK out of her life, he was her best friend you know, better even than me. I think she was worried that what she might have to face in the future was Darkness, and she didn't want TK dragged along. But she didn't realized how much he meant to her, either as a friend or assomething else, so it's hitting her kinda hard. Patamon is a wreck, clear and simple. I've never seen anybody hit quite that hard, but its something I expect. He's overcome by guilt that he didn't fly after TK when he left, didn't stop this earlier, but there's nothing he can do. Davis is a little better, he's naturally boneheaded, which means that he can shrug off a lot of what he's feeling, but her really feels bad. I would yell at him, but he feels terrible enough, and the truth is that this is all our fault, because we didn't look after one of our own."  
"We tried to look after him. It's just that, well, I'm the only one who has ever broken down like this, so bad that I didn't even remember who I was. We never expected TK to do this, I mean, he has been in the background for a lot of stuff, but he always seemed dependable. I know that Cody harbored some doubts about TK, but they had to do with the way that he got angry at the powers of darkness, and we know how justified that was. It just wasn't possible to see something like this."  
Yolei rounded on him suddenly. "Of course it was possible, we all could have seen this coming, couldn't we? We were pointing out the warning signs days ago, we just couldn't see them clearly, could we?" Suddenly she started crying again.  
"But we just didn't know Yolei. How could we have? Nobody had any clue what was happening to TK."  
"Guys?" The new voice belonged to Cody who was pushing through the bushes, his eyes a little wild. "You there?"  
"Hey Cody." Ken managed to turn and smile at him a little sadly. "What's up?"  
"I heard you were here from Gatomon, and I left Armadillomon with them. I just thought of something." Cody looked deadly serious, and Ken and Yolei instinctively knew that whatever he was going to impart was of the utmost importance.  
"What is it Cody?" Yolei asked.  
"Well, I was thinking. Remember when Kari and TK met that voice down underground, before we met Babamon the first time?"  
"Yeah, what about it?"  
"Well, at the time TK said something that bothered me a bit, but I forgot it until now. He said that Angemon thought they should learn the Asrana'Dactal, right? Well, the Asrana'Dactal was supposed to defend them against mental attacks, the kind that attacks the mind or the soul or something. What if what happened to TK was one of these attacks, the kind that drives you to despair from the inside? It would be perfect for rendering Hope useless, drowning it in despair or something like that until the crest itself had no meaning. I think that's what happened to TK, and that we better warn the others, or else it will happen to them." Cody looked up at them, nearly breathless after gasping that all out.  
Ken was sitting upright in shock. "Of course, Of Course! It all fits now! No wonder he started going downhill right away, and so suddenly too. He was one of the best in keeping us alive, and could have been a real leader against the powers of evil as well. And Kari once remarked that Patamon's evolved forms are powerful weapons against the powers of darkness. He was a real threat, but by attacking his mind, they got to him before he could destroy them. I bet the dreams are part of it too."  
"We have to go back right now and warn everybody else. I bet that they might be targets as well. If TK was only the first" Yolei let that thought drift off, and then they were rushing back.  
  
"Why were the answers wrong?" TK muttered to himself.   
_Lost. Lost and Empty._ The voices continued to rage in his head.  
But all he could see in his mind's eye was the shake in denial. He knew, in his heart of hearts that something important was tied up in the answers to those questions, something very important.  
_Tired and Lost. So Tired._ The voices continued.  
But he still could not find the answers, no matter where he looked, outside or in.  
_Tired and Useless_. The voices seemed to grow louder with each passing second until he dimly began to wonder if he had a church choir hammering away in there.  
He began to laugh. It was not a sane laugh. His voice came out it starts and fits that could have been coughs, could have been attempts to clear a throat long clouded and blocked. It could have been anything. He was useless, that much was clear. Patamon couldn't Digivolve except in the utmost of desperate circumstances, something that was being made clear to him every moment that he pressed on. As such, he was a liability to the Digidestined team. He kept ending up attempting to take authority from Davis, something that undermined the team itself.  
A team, as Tai had proved early on in their adventures, was something that had to hang together, something that had to function perfectly. Tai was the foremost spokesperson for the group, but his stories only covered about half of their adventures in the Digital World. Oh, they were the important half. Devimon. Etemon. Myotismon. The Dark Masters. Tai had been there for the important stuff at least.  
But Tai's tales tended to leave out the lesser half of the adventures. After the defeat of Etemon, when Tai had been sucked back into the Real World, the group had wandered for what they later estimated to have been about four months in their time, looking for Tai, and then, as the group broke up, looking for the others. They had adventures and challenges galore, but in their memory everything was tainted by the collapse of the team. Now TK was the weak link, the person who could not be counted on, just like before. Before he had thought that everyone was leaving because he was a crybaby, now he knew that he had to leave because he was a danger.  
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And now TK was the weak link. Everyone else could digivolve to Ultimate. Patamon could barely digivolve to Champion. Everyone else was fitting in. Davis was the boss, Ken was the guy who was supposed to set him straight. Yolei and Cody tried to stay in the background. Kari was Kari. TK was disruptive, a rebellious element, and put all the others at risk. This way it would be much better. Leave his nightmares and his strange feelings and his odd compulsions out of it.  
Before his weakness was excused because he was the youngest of the group. Now he was supposed to be one of its best supporters, but in reality he was nothing more than a fraud, the kind of fraud that should never have gotten through anything. Teams needed to function right, and he was providing something of an obstacle to everything. He was capable of so much more, and he was not providing any of it.  
No, it would be better for them, for everyone alive, if TK got lost now, and did not come back.   
  
"So what do we do now?" Kari had calmed down considerably upon hearing Cody's theory. The thought of a direct threat had apparently brought her out of her temporary freeze.  
"I don't know." Ken admitted after awhile, with a quick glance at the limp bundle on Kari's lap, resting quivering under one hand.  
Patamon looked horrible. His ears drooped, his eyes refused to open, refused to focus on anything except what was right in front of his face, even his tail drooped. He seemed unable to eat, unable to do anything except breath and occasionally cry. It was almost like he was dying, wasting away right in front of everyone. A bonded Digimon seemed to be attached to their companion, and without the presence of that companion, they just seemed to waste away, without a purpose in their life.  
Just looking at Patamon reminded Ken of the consequences of what would happen if they lost somebody else.  
"We have no defenses against this, so we're just going to have to fight it the old fashioned way." Davis spoke up suddenly, from the slump he had been in.  
"What's that?" Veemon wanted to know.  
"We have to fight them in our heads. If anyone feels depressed, they got to know that everybody else here is looking out for them and all. But in the end, this is something that everyone has to fight for themselves. We have to face some things by ourselves in the end, and I think that this is one of them."  
Everyone nodded at the idea. After all, it made sense.  
Suddenly, Yolei had an idea. "I know what, what happens if we ask Angewomon? She might be able to tell us more about what's going on, don't you think?"  
"She might." Hawkmon admitted.  
Kari and Gatomon exchanged glances. "I'm ready if you are." Gatomon whispered after a moment.  
Kari sighed and took out her D3 and held it up, but nothing happened. Nothing at all, except for a dimness, and absence of light.  
"Remember Kari." Gatomon whispered. "That this might b the only way that we can gather enough information to save ourselves and TK. It might be his last chance."  
Kari's jaw tightened and her chest and her D3 flared into sudden life.  
"Gatomondigivolves to.Angewomon."  
The angel stood there for a moment, looking at them, smiling down gently. She apparently did not share all of Gatomon's memories and, upon seeing no threat nearby, looked down at the concerned faces below and smiled at them gently, light radiating off of her like a spring shower. Her face traversed theirs, calming them immensely, restoring what they had lost in the midst of panic.  
Her gaze fell upon TK's abandoned D3.  
For a moment there was no change in Angewomon's expression. Then everything about her changed, her face transforming like an icicle under a heat lamp. Her jaw opened for a moment, hanging slackly, and then everything inside of her seemed to explode. One hand came up, pointing desperately at the device. Kari had lived with Angewomon for years and had heard many things from her companion. She had heard the angel upset and angry and irritated and calm and complacent. Raw panic, however, was a new one.  
"Where is he? WHERE IS HE?"  
  
Maybe it would be better if he never existed.  
TK wondered about that thought as he trudged silently to the base of that mountain, that single monumental point of rock, the one that so dominated the landscape, both inside of and outside of his head. Despite the mass of the mountain that lent to the feeling of proximity, the journey was obviously going to take him most of the day. And, as he trudged his way to the top, thoughts whispered around in his head, playing catch-me-if-you-can with his conscious mind.  
The fact was, that Khartan had indicated that he could draw some sort of mad strength from TK's crest. And something inside of TK, perhaps the last spark of the boy who had fought evil so many years ago, the last light of a dimming candle that, like the trick candle on a birthday cake, refuses to go out, was whispering its own secrets back. There was a power in his crest, something so great that he could never use it, something so great that even his subconscious could not appreciate its true power, could never have used its strength. Power, the kind of power that shapes universes, flowed out of it, gently running through his soul like a powerful river, capable of cooling aching feet or carving mighty canyons from unyielding rock. If the Dark could gain control of that power everything would come to an end. Everything.  
His friends needed that power, but they needed that power kept out of the hands of Darkness even more. No matter what that power could not be allowed to be corrupted. If anyone who followed the great darkness could get their hands on that particular crest, could make it obey their wishes, then everything would be lost. And his friends were still the reason he was here. No power on Earth could break through to them, he would not permit it.  
That memory stood in the middle of his heart like a rock, a crystal, both unbroken and unbreakable, something that was strong enough to withstand attacks from everywhere. Memories of laughter and friendship and companionship fell away from him, but they congealed and cemented themselves in place in the center of his heart, where his crest had once gleamed. No power on Earth or beyond was going to allow him to start hurting his friends. That shield of will and Light, of remembered love and friendship was stronger than anything else that could have been brought to bear against it. TK could feel the power swell in him, lock itself away where nobody could ever use it, and felt himself armor up inside. Now he could no longer be a threat to his friends, at least, for a time. Given time, something of significant power could hack their way through that armor, take what was in him, could it not? But for now, another voice reminded him, he was safe.  
For a moment the voices that floated uneasily, in a sea of hatred, mistrust and loneliness, were stymied. Their voices rendered hoarse and mute, they swirled uncertainly, as if looking for a new direction through which to proceed, as if the crystal in TK's heart was halting them somehow. Then they resumed their progress, slowly preparing a mounting attack on another point. Perhaps it was true, they reasoned in their own way, voices squeaky with cunning and guile, that he was temporarily invulnerable to the darkness, but was he truly invulnerable? The powers that were at play here were of such magnitude that nobody could truly be sure that he was invulnerable to everything. Perhaps it was necessary to remove the crest from the picture completely.  
TK, his mind fuzzy from lack of sleep and exhaustion, stomach growling hungrily, felt the idea come to a strange sense of conclusion inside of him. It made sense after all to have something like this. A way to keep the power from getting to anyone else.  
He would unlock his own power, the power of the crest, or he would destroy it forever, and possibly himself along with it.  
  
"WHERE IS HE?" Angewomon was screaming full out now, her blonde hair streaming out behind her like a nest of snakes.  
"He went off, that's why we wanted you" Yolei began slowly, have not anticipated the level of distress that the Ultimate was showing.  
But Angewomon never let her finish her sentence. The moment Yolei mouthed the fatal words "went off" Angewomon hurled back her head and howled out loud to the sky.  
"GENNAI, He's Ascending!"  
For a moment there was stunned silence as the voice resounded around the empty forest and off the shores of the nearest hills, echoing back a thousandfold increased, over and over again until it felt like they were standing in the middle of a cathedral bell. Then, almost as if a switch were thrown, all the noise ceased in one sudden gasp, disappearing like they had been unexpectedly muffled.  
"What?" Gennai, young Gennai, appeared in his trademark rainbow colored beam of light right next to them all of a sudden, his face radiating concern, but his pose was distracted, as if he was trying to do two things at the same time. Everyone around him jumped back wildly.  
A half-dozen other pillars of light sprung up, but of different colors this time. Each one contained a different figure, wearing different armor, all talking to people they could not see.  
"anyway that's what we pay them for"  
"Can anyone make visual with three squadron? No wait, I see them"  
"Tell him to draw back. We can't do anything more for that"  
"do you lose ten thousand boots? Check the supply dumps between"  
"All right people, we may have a situation. Mike, I need a readout on Takeru's crest and its current properties."  
One of the people, a rather short one wearing golden armor that appeared to be talking to two different people at once, responded. S/he did not respond at the visual stimulus, merely speaking out a string of numbers and letters that nobody could recognize and that rattled around like shot in a can.  
"That bad?" Gennai looked momentarily offbeat, and then smiled, albeit a bit grimly. "I wonder how henever mind. I think that he's already past the point where we can safely shut him down angelus. I wonder if we couldno, that's out of the question too. I'm sorry."  
"He's started to ascend then?"  
The one Gennai had called Mike actually looked at them this time. "With high probability, but his mental stage is more uncertain than I would like. I have some suspicions about that, but they are no longer verifiable at this point. I'm sorry, there doesn't appear to be anything I can do about this right now."  
"But something must be done, you do realize this" Another figure spoke up, momentarily giving the group his attention. Then he turned away again, distracted once more.  
"The appearance of an unstable crest is a great shock to all of us." This time the character speaking sounded distinctly female. "I do not believe us capable of underestimating the portents should it go rogue for your immediate vicinity."  
"Although this Takeru seems to be a dependable sort of person. It is quite possible that he will be able to overcome this by himself."  
"Perhaps not, after all there are precedents"  
"I see no reason to be overly alarmistmy God" the last was spoken, not in cool, analytical tones, but in tones of deepest shock.  
"There are forty thousand people in that thing!" Gennai was no longer disinterested, but he was staring at something outside of the rainbow column of light.  
"I have it." A figure wearing silver jerked upright, both hands raised in the image, staring at something too intently to notice the Digidestined staring at him.  
"Don't be foolish." Another figure spoke up quickly. Kari was having a hard time telling them apart now, because the colors of the light they were in were now swirling in patterns normally found only in association with the word psychedelic. "Even you can't catch fifty thousand tons bare-handed."  
"He's not listening to you." Another figure had the colors spinning around them so fast that they began to throw up interesting specks of light in the air like drunken fireflies. "Just make sure you don't overload the support structures, they weren't intended to be handled like this."  
The silver figure was no longer paying attention, his image suddenly shivered, and Kari knew instinctively that he had just taken on the impact of a tremendous load. The outline of the image became blurred and indistinct, as something inside of him strained against the load he was carrying. He gave the impression of falling back into the ground again, pounded from above by the power that he was struggling against, and then, as if he was splitting open from the inside under the strain, he began to scream.  
Everyone else was no longer paying attention, because everyone else was yelling something to someone else.   
"He's going to go for it"  
"Get those people out of there"  
"so run for it gang. There's not much time"  
"Hit the deck!"  
And then light flared, and as Gennai gave them a single parting wave, the images broke up into static.  
But there was one moment when the figure in silver armor seemed to swell, fire as bright as that which falls from the sun at the moment of dawning to the moment of falling began to emerge from his body, howling and screaming in a rage that Kari could neither understand, nor hope to equal in a thousand years. The Light was a living thing, sent twisting and writhing forth from behind those impenetrable metal arms, hurling outward to meet the force that had attempted to crush its host. For a moment, before the image faded, while everyone else was looking elsewhere or at each other in sudden confusion, there was one crystal clear image, like what happens when the wind fails for a single moment and you can look through a lake and see the detail on every rock and branch lying on the bottom in glaring detail. Then everything shattered as the light took on a new shape, for a moment replicating something so foreign and yet so familiar that Kari could not help but understand it.  
Then the images were gone, and Kari knew what the crests were for.  
  
_One way or another_, TK thought as he trudged along. The going was harder now, tearing at his feet beneath him, seeming to poke and prod him every time he moved. There was a path up the mountain, and it climbed precipitously, making the passage difficult for him, harder than he had ever anticipated before, something that was beginning to make him tired. But whatever it was that burned in his heart, like the fire in the furnaces that drove old steam ships around the cape in winter, decks coated with ice, and insides boiling with steam, it drove him on toward destiny.  
_One way or another, this will be over soon.  
_  
"We need a plan." Ken suggested while everyone was looking around. "Gennai and his companions can't seem to help us now. Angewomon" he looked over, but Angewomon was concentrating on something else now. "well, we have to do something."  
"I agree." Davis whispered.  
Kari, oblivious to the world in her sudden, newfound revelation, clutched TK's D3 to herself, and realized that the horror in her stomach was merely a reflection of what it would be had she been here to watch what was happening out there. She did not hear the branches behind her rustle, and the disquiet in her heart masked that from anywhere else, covering everything in shadows.  
"Well, we could make an airborne search pattern and see if we can hunt him down, it should be possible now that we're thinking clearly to outspeed him. He's not going that fast at the moment." Yolei suggested.  
Then the attack came. Explosions rippled over the edge of the treeline, and everyone froze for a moment before reaching for their D3s. But that moment was a moment too long, for in that moment dozens of Digimon, Vilemon, Woodmon, and RedVeggiemon sprang out from the trees and then stopped suddenly, as if waiting for the Digidestined to make their first move.  
Angewomon stood up, and then the others, making a quick defensive position, but the surprise they had been in excluded prompt retaliatory action, and everyone seemed to be partially frozen with fear. Davis, as usual, broke the inaction first.  
"All right everybody, let's digivolve and get out of here."  
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Everybody froze as Reaver walked out of the trees. He was the same as earlier, armor that seemed to absorb the light and the interlocking spikes that protruded out to catch the unwary foe, all seemed the same. A black cape billowed out behind him like a living thing, twisting in the midst of a gale, as if trying to wrap around him. But nobody watched that, they were all staring at his left arm. The end now protruded a giant black spike, a piece of metal that looked long and cruelly pointed enough to give everyone nightmares. Ugly and sharp, the point rested very gently and very precisely in one place. It was held so firmly that it was pushing up just a little of the skin at the top of Kari's neck, right below her head. "You see, I get terribly nervous when you digivolve, and when I get nervous, wellI might slip. And you wouldn't want anything dreadful to happen because I slip here, do you? Now why don't you be good little boys and girls and drop those D3s on the ground so that we can pick them up, and nothing bad will happen. Okay?"  
Everyone stared, and there was a tense moment while the Digimon tried to play a losing game of chicken against an opponent who held all the cards, and the children tried to convince themselves that this was not real.   
Eventually, Davis, being first to decide, reached down, unbuckled his D3, and let it fall to the ground, clumsily, bouncing off rocks like it was trying to get back into its owners hand. But it still fell to the ground, where it was joined rather slowly by everyone else's device.  
"Excellent." Reaver breathed out. "Chain them up, and then let's lead them out."  
  
TK reached the top. There it was, the platform-like expanse of smooth rock overlooking the floor of the forest so many meters below. From here one could feel like the king of the world, surveying their domains from a lofty throne that towered above the surrounding vegetation and almost into the stratosphere. Below one could make out the faint traces of the rocky trail as it led upwards, spinning round and around, back and forth on the way up the pinnacle.  
Any other day TK would have felt exultation at achieving such a monumental feat, but now he was simply tired and waiting for something to happen. This was the place he knew so well from his dreams, the be all and end all for the circle he was in. If circles could be said to have a beginning and an end, this was probably it. Here it was that everything would be decided, here where all things would either begin or end.  
He sat there, and waited for all the misery and uselessness to drain out of him, but there was nothing. Nothing special happened, nothing incredible and nothing magical. From here he watched the sun set, and then let exhaustion drag him down into sleep.  
  
"Where are we going?" Davis asked after they had been marched to the base of a steep mountain. It was dark now, and everyone was feeling miserable, probably a result of being captured, and everybody was also dragging around in the dirt and darkness out of exhaustion.  
"Here for now. It's sort of boring up there. You have my permission to sleep for a few hours, but we will be up there by dawn." Reaver ordered. Most of the guards were gone, but there were still some left, hovering around them. Not like they could do anything in chains anyway.   
Ken looked around. Everyone did look beat, and tired, and Kari had not said a single word since this whole nightmare had gotten worse. Depression and exhaustion settled in his heart, and then all was darkness, but this was the darkness that reached out to attack him.  
  
For the first time in a long time Takeru dreamed a different dream. There was no mountain here, only a long, gentle grassy hill, rolling down toward the lakeshore below, a place of near perfect harmony, where the scent of spring grass tickled the nose and the breeze carried the hint of dandelions and other, more exotic, flowers in the nearby woods. Here there was peace and quiet, silence and calm, tranquility, here was where you waited for life to come to you.  
"Where is this?" TK wondered aloud.  
"This? This is where all paths come at the end." Another voice intruded on TK's silent thoughts. A boy, about ten years old it looked, with short black hair, stood next to him. Everything about him except for his smile would have been hard to describe, and he smiled gently. "I'm Mike. I run this place, sort of. You would be Takeru."  
"Yes, I would. Pleased to meet you. What do you mean by run this place?"  
"Well, all paths come here in the end, but people on the different paths see different things. I run this corner of this particular reality. I wondered when you would be showing up."  
Something inside of TK, something that had not emerged too often before, made him ask. "Is this the Heart of the World?"  
Mike appeared to be unsurprised by the comment, and just pointed to a horizon that was hard to define, beyond another stretch of deep green hills, beyond the sparkling blue lake. "No, we're sort of on the boundaries. The Heart of the World is just over those hills."  
"How far?" TK felt himself ask, and then shut his mouth for a reason he could not understand.  
"Now that's a silly question. However far you need to travel to get there."  
"Am I supposed to go there?"  
"Not yet. I would wait a few hours if I were you."  
Something caused TK to nod, and then ask. "So what is Hope anyway?"  
"Funny you should ask that." Mike paused and rubbed his chin. "It's hard to explain. One of those things you either know what it is, or don't. But the way I see it is like remembering starlight."  
"Remembering starlight?"  
"Everyone sees it differently. But it comes out the same in the end."  
"Do I have any?"  
"You must if you wish to win. The choice still awaits you know. And it won't be easy, I'll give you that. I don't really expect you to survive, and that's the truth. But you were right about one thing, that power must stay out of the hands of Darkness forever."  
TK took a deep breath. "I think I'm ready to go back now."  
Mike nodded and smiled at him. "Good luck, and I guess I'll see you soon won't I?"  
  
TK woke up from the strange dream cramped from sleeping all night on a platform of time-smoothed granite on a tower soaring above the floor of the world. As he got up, he watched the sun rise, an explosion of red and yellow light entering the world.  
Some things enter the world, some things leave it.  
He remembered images from the past. Devimon and Myotismon. Piedmon laughing and MaloMyotismon on the rampage. BlackWarGreymon transforming and Oikawa gloating before the end. Darkness wanted him, and he remembered to that the power that was inside of him, that which he could never unlock, could never be allowed to fall into the hands of evil.  
_A man who is not afraid of fire, who can run into a burning building to save children from dying, is not a hero._ The thought, from the last horrible dream echoed suddenly in his mind. The voices in his mind were now a trumpeting roar, marking his uselessness, his death that was sure to come, the last act of salvation.  
And suddenly, as the rays of the morning sun threatened to burn out his corneas and leave him blind in truth as well, something in the back of his mind opened up like a door, and all the misery and loneliness came flooding out. Before that tide, uncertainty vanished, and he was filled with a rock-hard resolve. In his heart the fire began to burn.  
  
"Well isn't that touching. Your teammate, don't bother shouting by the way, he can neither hear nor see anything you do, so depressed by your rejection of him is going to end it all in a tragic manner." Reaver watched as the other Digidestined surged forward before being caught in their chains, sending them sprawling backwards.  
"No!" Ken shouted. Cody and Yolei and the Digimon began to scream. Kari howled TK's name over and over again, and Davis tried to apologize, but TK saw none of them. He was standing on top of his column, a scene that would stick in their minds for the rest of their lives.  
He was looking out to the sun with a face full of awe and sadness, of regret mixed with pain. One tear was trickling down his cheek, and one hand shook suspiciously. But every other part of his body was engraved as if in stone, outlined in its solemnity and determination by the crimson and gold flames of the dawning sun, flames that shone all around him, as if he had found a throne at last. As if a gateway was opening to take him home.  
And then, he began to move, unhearing of their desperate screams.  
  
Takeru Takaishi looked into the sun and understood the riddle, the question, and he almost laughed in the midst of pain as understanding took him. And he knew what he had to do, and one step after another, the edge of the cliff loomed ever closer.  



	13. The Sky Asunder

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
Author's Note: IMPORTANT: To spread things out and to keep my chapter menu from becoming ridiculously long, I am going to bring this story arc to an end and continue things in a story called Storming the Gates, which should start appearing in less than a month. I hope this won't confuse too many people. I also hope that you enjoyed this section of the story. I welcome any comments and/or reviews. On with the tale!   
  


**Episode XIII  
The Sky Asunder**  
  
"Definition: Coward: Someone who runs away.  
Definition: Hero: Someone who runs away in the wrong direction"  
Cortell, _Notes_ _on the Great War  
_  
"For those of us on whose shoulders rests the weight of worlds, we must remember one truth. No matter how much the weight, how deep our roots, we are born to soar."  
Justice, _Musings_  
  


The edge loomed invitingly before TK, stretching out, with its view of the ground below. For a moment, he could feel something try and compel him to pause in his steady tread, but something else, stronger now and burning the colors of the sunrise before him, pressured him on. And, one step after another, the edge loomed closer.  
  
Patamon screamed until he was hoarse, tears flying from his eyes as he struggled against the chain that clamped him in place, trying desperately to get his human to listen to him. Everything he did seemed in vain however, as if whatever task he had been entrusted with in caring for his human companion, he had been judged unworthy, and could not be allowed to save him anymore. Everything the panicky Digimon tried had no effect on the outcome of this dreadful scene.  
Kari had been, if anything, worse. Her mental situation had prompted her to yell and scream and throw herself mercilessly against the metal that held her in place until her wrists were cut and bleeding against cold edges. She had screamed until her voice was raw, torn with edges of pain and suffering on a level that she had barely comprehended before. Everything she did was in a desperate attempt to alert her best friend to the fact that everyone cared about him, wanted him to come back, but nothing came of it. And deep inside, a treacherous voice was whispering_, maybe if he had known that you wanted him to come back, he wouldn't have done this_. And she could not drown it out.  
Ken, who had struggled with his own inner depression tried desperately to find some way to overcome the tragedy he could see coming. But like the proverbial man whose foot was caught in the railway tracks, all he could do was watch the oncoming train and wait.  
  
This was it.  
He was afraid. He could feel it. He was afraid of the height, of the fall, of what would happen. He was afraid of hitting the bottom. He was afraid of death. TK knew it and he still walked forward.  
There was a moment when the universe held its breath, where everything fell silent, when the whole world strained to hear what was coming next, as he stood poised on the edge of the rim, the world and all its environs spread out below like some multi-colored tapestry of ages, woven by a hand finer than any mortal's. For a single instant it was if nothing moved, the wind ceased to breathe, the water ceased to flow, the dust ceased to dance, and everything was watching with baited breath the scene that was unfolding, waiting with unsurpassed wonder for the next event.  
He was still scared. What did it mean?  
It meant that, at last, he was doing the right thing.  
And then the world below was jumping toward him with the speed of an oncoming train, and all he could do was relax and wait for what came next.  
  
There was a moment when it stood still, all of it, and it looked like he might have heard one of their curses, prayers, hurried shouts or whispered benedictions. But then there he was, silhouetted for one dreadful instant in the fullness of the rising sun, a terrible, glorious figure in the heart of a burning star, waiting for his inevitable demise.  
And then he was gone.  
  
A man who has no fear of fire, who rushes in to a burning building to save children, has no courage either. A man who is afraid of fire, who worries about it, who has nightmares about it constantly that leaves him wringing his sheets in anxiety, and who rushes into the building anyway, _that_ man has courage.  
Courage is looking fear in the face, and then, not laughing, but doing what has to be done.  
Hope is not thinking that everything will come out for the best. No, Hope is not that at all.  
  
Kari stopped for one moment, staring as if she could not believe that he was finally gone, some part of her rejecting sanity and the terrible present. Patamon just collapsed against Gatomon in tears. Davis mouthed one, tear filled sentence. "I killed him." Everyone stood still, silent, watching the horrible scene. None of them moved.  
"Well, that turned out rather well." Reaver noted. "He may have found a way to keep us from gathering his power, but he can no longer use it against us either. Come, let's go."  
  
Time stopped.  
Hope is nothing.  
Consider it, Hope is nothing, it cannot be measured by any instrument, it cannot shine in the darkness under its own power, it is, by itself, nothing. It has no physical semblance, no effects that can be seen and observed by those of discerning eye. It is, to all effects, a non-entity.  
Hope is like what those who have spent all their lives near the sea may feel about the waves. Sometimes there is very little indication that the small swell that barely creases the water out there may turn into a rather large wave, but those for whom the ocean is life know, perhaps somehow measuring and sampling that force that is so intangible yet so essential, perhaps reacting to some principle yet undiscovered.  
A tidal force swept the Crusaders into Jerusalem, and then swept them out again. It posted a list of words on a cathedral door and set the west on fire. Out of nothing it forged empires, shattered worlds. Something sent a young man from Macedonia to conquer all of the known world. Something raised empires from nothing, and ground them back into dust when their time was over.  
No, Hope is nothing, but what it brings with it is everything.  
Hope is like jumping off a cliff  
  
"Time to get going." Reaver pulled on the chains and the other Digimon that were guarding them started pulling as well. "You might as well give in now, it won't get any better."  
Kari glared up at him, a glare that should have, had there been any justice in the universe, burned the dark figure to a crisp. Reaver merely looked down at her magnanimously and shook his head in reproof.   
"Ah, now being stubborn I see. And defiant too. Well, you see, there is only one sort of reward for that sort of behavior." From the belt at his side he took a coil, which swiftly cracked into a whip of the sort that made Ken's old one look like a limp piece of rope. Throughout the ends little pieces of metal and glass glimmered.  
"Oh, don't worry about your precious face. We can heal you up as good as new afterwards. Consider it a little lesson."  
He raised the whip.  
  
and remembering how to fly.  
Time started again.   
The ground rushed forward at a rate of speed that should have panicked everyone, but TK was not paying attention anymore. He left his body behind as it plummeted toward the earth far below, and let his spirit begin to walk toward the Heart of the World.  
  
Kari moved.   
Ken never would have suspected that she could move so fast, but she was doing it, spinning up and out despite the chains, whirling like a miniature thunderstorm, one hand reaching out in what would have killed any normal human.  
Reaver caught the hand in midair.  
For a moment Kari dangled, trying to kick out, but Reaver threw her backwards, slamming her into the ground, knocking the breathe out of her. Then, while everyone else stood stunned, he raised a finger and shook it at her.  
"Naughty, naughty. And you know what happens to naughty little girls." The whip rose again.  
Something caught his hand. Reaver turned angrily to find another hand there. Everybody gasped in complete and total shock.  
"Why is it?" TK asked, "That nobody _ever_ pays attention to me?"  
After a moment of surprise, Reaver tried to stare down at him angrily, but there is a limit to how angry one can look when the person who one is trying to look angry at is force-feeding one a knuckle sandwich.  
Reaver jerked back, which meant that TK could knee him in the gut, and then kick him straight out in the jaw when he doubled over. The impacts happened so fast that Ken thought he was witnessing a karate match fast forwarded. Only Reaver's ungainly fall seemed real, and even that seemed different somehow.  
It was then that everybody got their second shock. TK was standing in a perfectly relaxed fighting stance, something that would not look that much out of place on a busy city street. It looked natural and completely normal, something that Ken had seen at a dozen different Dojos and gyms across Japan. What everybody noticed next was that he was standing, feet planted firmly, about a half meter above the ground. Ken looked at that, blinked a few times, and then looked back. There was still a considerable gap between the ground and TK's boots.  
"Get him!" Reaver shouted from the ground, and all the chained Digidestined and Digimon screamed in warning as the guards, a half-dozen RedVeggiemon, leapt at him, flying through the air, prickly arms outstretched. For a moment they were poised to beat TK to a bloody pulp, and Patamon was exhorting his human partner to move away.  
It took several hours of discussion later to pin down what happened next. A prodigious leap took TK temporarily clear of the combat zone, and then a series of midair flips that Ken would have sworn should have required three sets of ropes and a trampoline to perform took care of the rest. No matter how fast the pummeling clubs, TK simply was not where they were trying to hammer him to pieces. Two of the RedVeggiemon hammered each other senseless on the spot. The other four tried again, but TK was somehow inside of the range of their pounding, and this time he was striking back, feet and fists flying with deadly precision. Within a few seconds, so fast that Ken would have missed most of it if he had blinked too much, all six RedVeggiemon were lying unconscious on the ground.  
"So, a practitioner of the Asrana'Dactal. Well, your art against mine. And I should warn you" Reaver, who had watched the last moments of the fight, walked forward, and Ken could feel the arrogant grin. "I don't play nice."  
Ken could only gape. This was the true power of the Asrana'Dactal. No wonder Angemon thought it was important.  
TK just grinned back. "I don't play nice either." His voice deepened at the end of that, and his feet dug in to nothingness as both of his arms came up in a peculiar position, both hands cupped in front of him. "Maybe you'll remember this one from the stories your mother used to tell you." Something crackled inbetween his hands, as if there was a miniature lightning bolt on the loose in there, and TK grinned even wider, while Reaver's confident advance stopped for a moment. And then he opened his mouth and screamed out a single word.  
"Silverbolt!"  
For a moment it was as if a thousand crackling thunderstorms had unleashed their bolts of lightning directly into TK's hands, for he was holding a small round sphere, a shape defined by the silver lightnings crackling inside, driving against the invisible field. There must have been thousands of them, and the patterns as they struggled against each other, and smashed against each other in dreadful harmony, like the crashing of ten thousand pairs of giant teeth, stretched on into infinity. For a moment it was as if he was holding energy incarnate in his hands, in sort of a crackling, wriggling mess. Then they leapt out. One end of the lightning burst out and struck Reaver in the chest, creating a little spark of light, a little miniature sun on his armor. And the rest of them jumped across to that point in one long stream. Gatomon later described it as a string, both ends fixed to different people, but the middle jerking and juggling all over the place.  
And Reaver, a being who had almost carelessly defeated a powerful Ultimate a few days before, a being who even seemed to intimidate Megas, screamed in horrible, awful agony. The power that ripped through him, held by the incarnate sun in the hands of one small, little boy, was too much for his armor to withstand, and the blast sent him flying to the edge of the mountain, tearing at him from within.  
"You have unlocked the power of the crest! You cannot be permitted to survive." Reaver struggled back upright.  
"Survival is no longer a certainty." TK rose off the ground even higher, now surrounded by a gentle golden nimbus like the corona of a star. "History has yet to be written this day."  
"You fool! Did you not think we were prepared for this eventuality. You cannot control the full power of your crest in any amount, and you cannot even draw upon its greatest strengths. I have been given the power that can defeat you here and now. Come and watch me crush you!"  
"We shall see." TK help up his hands and a bright light appeared in them, resolving into his staff. "We shall see!"  
Reaver snarled and leapt at him but TK dodged back and hurled the staff to the ground, where it easily pierced the metal chain holding the Digidestined together. Golden energy spewed from the staff and then swirled outward along the chains, quickly unlocking everybody from their bonds. Reaver was paying no attention because he was busy swinging a massive, spiked fist against TK's side.   
TK bounced forward this time, one arm swinging up like a hammer and smashing into Reaver's spikes. The sharp metal points tried to edge forward to taste flesh and blood, but they slammed into TK's corona of golden fire and stopped dead. TK used the other hand to try and punch Reaver in the mouth, but Reaver blocked that with his free hand. Arms locked, both of them kicked at the same time, and the resulting smash as both of them slammed their shins together nearly made Ken bite his own tongue off in sympathy with what they must be feeling. For a moment they hovered, static, before they were moving again, fluidity marking their competition, dynamism their movements. Reaver depended on power hits, striking from the outside in, with rapid jabs from his arms and massive, powerful kicks striking from his legs. TK, in reverse of what Ken had been taught, used his legs almost entirely as defense, even managing to bring them up to block hand attacks. His strikes were small and deadly, rising from the waist and shoulder, and plunging outward. Together they were locked for a few moments before kicking free of each other and circling wearily.  
_He's right you know. I can't beat him. Not yet, I'm still too new to this, I'm still lacking too much of my power, too much of my many abilities. I'm sorry, but the only thing we can do is that I can hold him off while the rest of you get away. That's it._ TK's voice rang in everyone's heads.  
"We don't have the D3s, he's got them." Davis shouted back.  
TK's face assumed an expression of concentration and he jerked one hand upward. For a moment this seemed to have no perceptible effect and then a pine tree, shrieking like a banshee, burst up from the depths below and into Reaver like a rabid battering ram.  
_I'm sorry. I can't help you there. You have to get out of here while I can still hold him off. That's all you can do.  
_ Reaver streaked in close to TK and the two exchanged kicks, both of them flying back in pain from the dual impact, both of them sent hurtling through space.  
"TK, we can help you!" Cody screamed.  
Fists met in midair with a sickening crunch, then the two were apart again.  
_No, you can't. Even if you could Digivolve, you need to save your strength. You have to get away from here. Nothing can help me now, and I want my life to mean something. That means that I fight here.  
_ "Black Spike." A blast of darkness erupted from Reaver. "Silverbolt!" A blast of silver lightning met it halfway, detonating it in a spectacular show of fireworks.  
"TK, I can't lose you again." Kari sounded like she was going to curl up and die right there.  
_You never lost me the first time, and you won't lose me now, I promise. We will meet again, all of us, now go!  
_ The two crashed into each other and a cloud formed, a continuing struggle between glowing, blazing golden fire and overwhelming, enveloping darkness. Inside that struggle one could hear the impacts of the two exchanging blows at incredible speeds.  
"TK, don't leave me!" Patamon shrieked, Gatomon having to hold him down to keep him from flying into the heart of the maelstrom.  
_I'll never leave you. Any of you. You were the best friends I ever could have had. Good bye and good luck on all your future ventures.  
_ Fire blazed in the sky for a single moment. The two fighters rose on wings of air, continuing their battle high in the sky.  
"I won't go." Kari screamed and stubbornly held her ground. "You can't make me!"  
_Kari, the power that I have here is something that you have inside of yourself. If you only knew the glory inside of you, the power that I see shining through. Together you and the others can win this war, but you avail yourself of nothing if you die here with me. Go, and remember me always.  
_ Explosions began to shake the rocks under them, but the two combatants were no longer paying any attention, fire rising off them like from a volcano, light and shadow warring with each other in great gouts of fire.  
"I can't lose you again. None of us can. Not when we never really found you." Kari was crying openly now as the two figures rose higher and higher, leaving all of them behind, moving out into the open terrain, hundreds of meters above the ground, as the struggle continued.  
_Kari, you have to. I know the paths that you must walk in the future, and I would have been glad to walk them with you, be that as a friend, or as something greater. I would be honored if you would take the love I have for all of you, but especially you old companion, and take it with you forever. Take what I have and remember that it will always stay in your heart, and I'll always be there with it. Now go, go!  
_ The last sound was a frantic cry, and from the sound above it seemed that TK was being steadily pushed back, that even his great power could not resist that which was being pushed upon him from above. But still he fought and struggled against the darkness that threatened to absorb them all.  
"Good-bye Takeru." Davis whispered in the end, bowing his head silently.  
"No, I won't let him go!" Kari stood up suddenly and power flared in his chest, and light reached out to touch TK and lend him some of her strength.  
"I won't abandon a friend either!" Ken felt fire in his bones as his own power reached up to prop up their friend.  
"I'm not giving up now!" Davis screamed defiantly, and power rose from him too, reaching toward the sky.  
"All for one" Yolei began as her crest flared with a thousand shades and another beam of light rose unerringly into the battle above.  
"and one for all!" Cody finished, his own light snaking up to join the others.  
In a single instant, they were all connected, and they all knew the truth.  
They could not win. Even all their power together could not prevent TK from falling before Reaver. And, even worse, they could not pull out. They were locked together, one entity, standing against the power that was driving against them, and they were all going to die now. One stand against the darkness, one last glorious battle before death would come to take them all.  
_GO, get away from here!_ TK howled in vain, he knew as well as they that none of them would ever leave that place.  
_Good-bye guys. It was, well, a real pleasure working with all of you_. Davis thought to all of them.  
_We did what we had to do. And we fought the fights we had to fight. And then, in the end, we fell. It was fun_. Ken thought to them.  
_And I would do it all over again in a minute_. Kari finished, somehow wiping the tears in her eyes away with joy. _I'll see you guys on the other side_.  
But at that moment Ken was aware of something moving into the link between them.  
  
He knew, from the moment they all linked together, what was going to happen. Waves of unimaginable energy bound them all together, and none of them could get lose before they died. He could feel the energy too, how powerful it was, and understood that the power that Reaver bore with him was more powerful still.  
At the same time, he knew how to save them, some of them at least. If the link could be broken, they would be released to their bodies, still have time to run, to escape and get away before darkness and death overcame them all. One could break the link, but one would be subject to waves of energy beyond comprehension, be torn apart by the tides of forces beyond mortal ken. If someone could jump into the link they could break it, but only by dying themselves. Then TK could hold off Reaver until the others could escape, and death would be a welcome embrace for both of them.  
No one else should, but TK was half of him. Without TK he was nothing, useless and powerless, a waste of time and space and a reminder of the friend long gone. By sacrificing himself, they would lose nothing, and possibly gain everything. With a thought he hurled himself aloft, despair and pain shooting him faster than he had ever gone before, tearing a hole in the air on his way aloft. He shot forward on wings that had never been built for speed, screaming upward, a phoenix rising for the last time, emblazoned in the rays of the rising sun.  
As he flew his last flight he watched the memories slide by. A warm stomach and the inside of a strange bus, wandering through a foreign jungle with his one companion, the moment of strange change while facing Devimon. Rising from the shell of his egg again, walking through a vast continent, seeing the real world for the first time. A moment of transformation as his charge fell to the earth, a second of transcendent glory in a darkened sky in another time and world. An emperor and an egg, a combination, the end of an era. More memories intruded, a hand scratching him behind the ears, flying through the wind, sitting on a familiar hat, being tickled by familiar hands. The scents and smells of hundreds of days of life together echoed in his brain, and in the center of his stomach was the icy cold feeling that told him that things would never be the same.  
Then he entered the stream of energy.  
The sensation was like being thrown into an ice-cold mountain stream, only amplified a hundred, a thousand, times. Power swelled through his body, pulverizing his defenses, overwhelming him in an instant. It raged and bullied its way through him, tearing his body apart in its progress. For a moment it felt like his ears had caught on fire while his legs were freezing off into small tiny chunks. A second later it just felt like he had eaten something that kept expanding inside of him, tearing him apart and into pieces. Then again there were moments where he was shrinking, so fast that he knew that soon his insides would explode out through his skin. There was a sensation of being spitted on a thousand extremely sharp needles. All this passed in an instant. And the link was broken.  
The power flowed through him still, coursing through his bones like a miniature tornado stalking the streets. He could feel it tear him apart. He tried to open his mouth, to give his friend one last thing to remember him by into eternity, a tearful farewell, a brave cry, a final gesture. But some other power, both dreadfully mysterious and horribly familiar rose out from the depths like the fists of a thousand galaxies and tore away his heart and his voice, and all that rose from his mouth were the words of fire it brought with it.  
  
It was a moment that Ken would remember forever. Everything was frozen, flash-frozen as if the man operating the universe had pushed pause because he could not believe his eyes. Everything hung, as if painted there.  
TK and Reaver were clearly visible in their battling auras, both staring downward in shock. Light and shadow had coalesced around them, and was struggling even then, but the attention of the entities in control had been dragged downward. Now there was only a feeling of monumental conflict from where they stood, a sense of power in motion, even though they stood frozen.  
Kari was there too, lying beneath on the ground, looking as if she were about to collapse. She knew, somewhere inside of her what was about to happen. The others were also all spread around, sprawling against rocks or on the ground with the shock of the link breaking. The lines of power still reached out and up, but they were being intercepted, and they were no longer trapped. By all rights they should be running for their lives, but they seemed mesmerized by what was happening overhead.  
Above, there was Patamon, a silhouette of power in the middle of the lines of light criss-crossing the sky. His form was spread wide, the ears plunging out, the arms and legs, or were they all legs, outstretched in a pose that Ken had seen only a few times before. Every molecule of his being radiated the terrible agony that he was in as he severed the link, and everyone could feel the pain of his sacrifice. But in his eyes there was an expression that he had never seen before, something that reflected the light created when a ball of gas decided to spontaneously erupt and form a galaxy of stars and swirling clouds of light.  
For one moment the universe stood still, and there was only the sense of expectation, that something important was about to happen. Then Patamon screamed, and with the scream came words, hurled carelessly out of the depths as the fire consumed the little Digimon, and his body disintegrated into light.  
"Patamon_warp digivolve_ to"  
And _then_ everything blew up.  
  
"How much farther Leomon?" Tai asked. "We have been walking for days."  
"I don't know, I'll have to find them first."  
"Hold up everybody." Izzy sat down and began scanning through his laptop even faster than normal.  
"What is it Izzy?" Sora asked.  
"I'm getting a signal, like a new Digimon appearing."  
"You mean coming near?" Agumon looked around. "I don't see anybody."  
"No, they just digivolved and they aren't near here at all."  
"Then why are we worried?" Tai asked impatiently, earning him a glare from Matt. Izzy was too busy to notice any of this. When he finally sat back from the computer the grin on his face was so big that Joe was afraid it might fall off.  
"Go for it TK!" he yelled at the computer as the image resolved from its flickering. "Give him a kinetics lesson he'll never forget!"  
"Huh, what?" And then everyone was scrambling to look as the picture of a huge angel dominated the computer screen.  
  
It was just before dinner time in New York, which meant quite a lot. Willis was sitting at his desk, the one without the computer, absently doing sums on his paper when Terriermon burst through the door like a run away freight train and jumped right at him.  
"Whoa boy, what is it? Is Lopmon into the cookie jar again?"  
"No Willis, look!" Terriermon was more aggravated than Willis had seen him in years. He was also ecstatically bouncing on top of Willis' head and pointing at the computer with both arms.  
The computer was going partly crazy, and Willis recognized the programs that he and Izzy had set up, the ones that were supposed to warn them when large energies emerged in the Digital World, going off all over the place. Hurriedly he scooted his wheeled chair across the hardwood floor and hit the buttons that triggered the zoom function, and let the computer try and isolate the signature. A moment later a familiar image began to form on the monitor.  
Willis stared at it for only a second before spinning halfway around in his chair. "Terriermon!" he barked so loudly that his Digimon fell of his head. "Get on the phone and call Michael right now! If I'm seeing this, Izzy's seeing this too, so Japan's alerted, but we need the others to contact me right now!" Then, while Terriermon jumped off to do his bidding, he minimized the search window and opened up an email list that he only ever used once.  
  
For a moment everything went white. There was order in the whiteness, a method to the madness perhaps, a sense that there was not just random color, that the color was anything but random. But the brightness was so intense that it was impossible to make out what the pattern actually was, or what it might do. Then the light was rushing, a sensation that confused everyone on the ground to no end, into one compact, but still gigantic figure. For a moment, everyone was sure that the world would end in a burst of white fire, but then the picture changed yet again.  
From out of nowhere, there was a brighter light, and the edges of the bundle of whiteness hardened into enameled blue armor, containing the force within. Gold fire wrote words and symbols in hard to understand languages along the edges that were available and a set of ten golden wings lifted from the back. Gargantuan, the huge angel, dwarfing Patamon's other evolutions, towered above the landscape, dominating it by sheer presence.   
_"__SERAPHIMON!"_  
A vast golden light shone out from the angel when his name rang through the world, spreading out like a tidal wave, or the light of the sun, which was still rising in the distance. When it struck the other Digimon, they stood up a little straighter and a little taller.  
"Payback time!" Davis howled.  
But the Digimon had just been staring at each other. "Even with his help it may not be enough. We've got to attack, all of us!" Veemon yelled.  
"Right!" the others called.  
"Guys, come back, that's a Mega, and without the D3s you can't digivolve!" Yolei yelled.  
"Don't be foolish!" Cody screamed.  
"You don't understand!" Gatomon yelled back as they charged forward, "It's the golden light, it's re-energized us, it's"  
"Veemon.digivolves to.ExVeemon!"  
"Wormmondigivolves to.Stingmon!"  
"Hawkmondigivolves toAquilamon!"  
"Armadillomondigivolves toAnkylomon!"  
"The light, it re-energized them!" Ken howled exuberantly. "Go and get him!"  
"Right, what are you waiting for?" Davis gestured wildly at the Champions still sitting there.  
"This! ExVeemonDNA Digivolve toPaildramon!"  
"Aquilamon.digivolve toSilphymon!"  
"Ankylomondigivolve toShakkuomon!"  
"Gatomondigivolve toAngewomon."  
"You think that will stop me?" Reaver yelled, but his voice was higher pitched now.   
"I think it might." TK responded, laughing easily. He grinned eagerly and fire snapped up around him again from within as Silphymon, Shakkuomon and Angewomon leaped up to attack.  
"What are you waiting for?" Ken asked Paildramon.  
"I think that, if he feeds us just a little moreyes, I think this is it. Stand back everybody, let's give it a go"  
"Paildramonmega digivolve toImperialDramon!"  
"All right!" Davis did a little victory dance.  
"Don't celebrate yet Davis." Ken reminded him.  
"ImperialDramonmode change toFighter Mode!"  
"Okay, now you can celebrate." Ken grinned.  
"Mind if we crash your party?" ImperialDramon asked Seraphimon.  
"Be my guest." The angel's voice was unexpectedly deep and echoed like he was standing in the bottom of a deep canyon, not in the middle of an open field.  
"Stand back TK!" Angewomon barked. "Celestial Arrow!"  
"Static Force!" "Kachina Bombs!"  
Reaver howled as the attacks roared in and pounded away at his armor, cutting away at the shadow he had surrounded himself with, tearing apart his defenses.  
"Thanks for opening it up. Now it's our turn! Positron Laser!"  
Seraphimon opened up his ten golden wings wide and six spheres of golden light formed in a circle around him, with a final one forming at his very heart. As he roared out, the spheres of light shot out, coalescing into a single beam that stabbed at Reaver with a force that could have easily shattered the earth below. "Seven Heavens!"  
Reaver howled backward, staggering from the multiple attacks, his armor torn through with holes from which his own darkness poured forth like clouds of fog. He began to stagger away as if he was trying to escape.  
"Parallax Beam!" TK thrust one hand with only two fingers extended down to point at Reaver's shifting form. A beam that looked like a spatial distortion, the kind you see on Sci-Fi shows, shot out, apparently doing a lot of damage to Reaver in its passing straight through him.  
"Time to pay the piper. Static Force!" Silphymon swept in, ignoring the waving blackness to tear at it with red-white light. Angewomon followed directly behind, blonde hair flying out as she brought up a brace of arrows and fired them, tearing up pieces of the darkness that Reaver was hiding in. Reaver lashed out with waves of darkness that emanated from his tattered mantle, but ImperialDramon was there, blocking the attack with a shield of blue force, and responding to it with a single blast from the cannon mount on his arm. Reaver dodged that one, but it still ripped away a corner of his body, something that distracted him enough for the razor edged Kachina Bombs to nail him to the air itself. Seraphimon, moving impossible fast for something that looked a lot like a huge statue, something you might see on display in some museum in an ancient palace, came riding in like a tornado, slicing away at the darkness with the spokes of light that rose from his wings. Reaver struggled with him for a moment before TK kicked him in the jaw, then in the gut, and then in the back of the head. While he was recovering from that Silphymon and Angewomon flew back in and hit him in the back a few times, while Shakkuomon and ImperialDramon moved up to cover him. Then Reaver unleashed a blanket of darkness that should have covered him up, but it was only halfway across when Seraphimon began to repel it with his great light.  
"We've got to finish him before he gets away!" Kari called from below.  
"Everybody!" Seraphimon's voice rose in volume about six notches. "Concentrate all your power on TK!"  
"Got it!" They all repeated while inside they were thinking, _on TK?_  
"Celestial Arrow!"  
"Static Force!"  
"Harmonious Spirit!"  
"Positron Laser!"  
"Seven Heavens!"  
All the attacks rushed at TK and stopped, somehow absorbed by his golden aura that was now pulsing stronger and stronger, almost as if it were a living thing. Even standing far away as they were, the other Digidestined could feel the gentle light warming them down to their toes. It pushed at all living things, igniting the fire within if they were good, pushing them away if they were evil. Reaver was sent hurtling backward by the sheer power inherent there. For a moment TK looked like a star himself, outlined with golden fire that jumped for joy as if it were dancing to the tune of some celestial music that nobody else could hear.  
"Starblade!" One hand shot up with a manner befitting a king and pointed imperiously. From it emerged what looked like a sword-blade made out of shining golden light, that flashed along, expanding always, as if the blade could go forever. Shining in the sunlight and from within, the point slammed into Reaver full in the chest, and power swelled and crashed, irreversible and unstoppable like the mighty ocean, down the blade of that sword into his chest. There was a scream, one that trailed off in a sickly fashion, and then Reaver exploded into a thousand, thousand pieces, each one shattering in a wave of darkness that left them all feeling rather ill.  
Then there was nothing but the specks of light of their D3s, returning like the errant stars they were to the hands of their owners.  
Then Angewomon had to sweep in to catch TK and Patamon as they collapsed back into their normal state, Silphymon caught Wormmon and Veemon as they went back to Rookie, and then they had to start running.  
  
"Is he all right?" Cody asked Ken nervously after awhile. They were sitting deep in the woods, next to a huge collapsed pile of trees that Silphymon had torn down into a make-shift shelter. Inside, the branches kept the wind and the cold out, while a little hole in one corner let what little smoke there was leach from the small fire that they had going. It looked like a good place to spend the night.  
TK, however, did not look the same. He had been lying, collapsed on the ground, in the same position, ever since they had gotten there. He was still breathing, still sipping the water they occasionally poured into his mouth, but beyond that, he showed no response to anything.  
"I think so. I think he's just tired." Ken looked over to where Kari was sitting next to TK, and to where Yolei was feeding the fire they had erected next to him. Everything in the little encampment was arranged around the fallen boy, whom they had all seen rise from the depths like an angel afire.  
"Tired?" Davis had come up next to them. He had seemed happier after shedding the load of guilt he had been carrying about TK all through the trip. Now that TK was lying alive, if comatose, his natural cheerfulness and determination were beginning to re-assert themselves.  
"Well, think about it. The first time that our Digimon DNA Digivolved, they returned to their Baby stage after that. In fact, I expect that even after being trained up so long, they still might have to return to their in-Training forms if we did everything the old fashioned way. Well, TK did something that was just as difficult, but he can't return to a lower stage, can he? I mean, what would he do, get younger?"  
"Right, so he's just resting until he recovers his power?" Davis continued the line of thought.  
"I think so, yes. And if this is true, then he may not be able to use the power again when he wakes up. Think about it, if he were a Digimon, he would have to re-digivolve to do it."  
"So he's not really TK anymore!" Veemon exclaimed, smiling widely. "He's more likeDemi-TK!"  
There was a moment while everyone stared at the blue lizard, and then they all began to laugh. At first it was quiet laughter, and then it grew louder and louder until it threatened to shake apart the very foundations of their hasty structure. They laughed with the joy of being alive and of defeating the darkness one more time. But when three more voices joined in, the laughter suddenly stopped.  
Gennai, young and fresh as ever, flanked by two different glowing figures, stood in one corner of the shelter. Smiling genially, he looked down at TK with an expression of fatherish pride. The other two figures moved quickly and decisively to TK's side and began to examine him closely. After a moment, the taller one spoke.  
"You have done well, young Paladin. I've given you a gift and blocked away your powers until you need them again. You will have to depend on your other skills now, but I think they are more than adequate. Good luck and sleep well." He rose then, and the other rose with him. They bowed curiously to Gennai, who bowed back, and then they vanished in a flare of light.  
"Well Ken, you've already figured out most of it. I'm staying around, at least, part of me is, to answer any questions you might have." Gennai sat down carefully on the ground next to TK.  
"Will TK be all right?" Kari asked first, beating everyone else to the question that was looming foremost in their minds.  
"Yes, most definitely. He's just recovering his energies for now, resting easily and gently. At least, we hope that's what he's doing. Mike would warn us if he wasn't though, so there's no need to worry. And before you ask, he will not be able to do that for a very long time. His power, like all your powers, is immense, but it was brought out prematurely and will be contained for now until he can bring it out, one piece at a time."  
"Why not let his power out now?" Davis wanted to know.  
"Because he isn't quite ready for them yet. If they emerged in his everyday life, well, it could be catastrophic until he can control them. Have you ever sat in class and wished that there would be some distraction to get you out?"  
"Well, yes" Davis admitted.  
"I bet TK has done the same thing. The problem is, without proper control over that power he may act upon that, and subconsciously initiate the destruction of an entire building to stop the lesson. Something like that could cause hundreds of casualties and would probably drive him mad. And too much before he's ready would probably drive him mad anyway. That's why we locked his power away. When he truly needs it, he'll be able to use it again. But that, hopefully, won't be for a long time. So don't think he'll save you if you get into trouble. You have to save each other."  
"How long will he be like this?" Ken asked next.  
"Less then a week."  
"Will you be around to guide us?"  
"No, in fact, if you don't have any more questions, I should be getting back to work. You're heading in the right direction, and your friends in the Digital World are doing the same. You might win this yet."  
"Thanks Gennai." Cody grinned.  
"Gennai, are the crests created to do what TK did with it?" Kari focused her eyes entirely on him.  
"In a way." Gennai admitted cautiously. "They are supposed to focus power on their bearer, not on a Digimon, and they do give their bearer tremendous power. I suppose that you could consider this their purpose, but they have other uses. You are close to understanding."  
"I see."  
"Well, then, good-bye and good luck."  
For a moment his image faded and then it cleared up again. "Oh yes, and by the way, Kari, you should hide that crystal that you picked up the other day. It might be useful some day." And then he was gone.  
Kari stared at where the image had been for a moment, and then picked up the crystal from where she had placed it in her gear and gave it wordlessly to Davis, who placed it in his special box.  
  
"Should I go back to the Heart of the World?" TK asked.  
"Not yet." Mike replied. He glanced around the soft, endless beaches, and toward the waves. Above one suspiciously still patch of water hovered another figure that TK did not recognize in a meditation posture, harmoniously hovering about two meters above the water. "There's still so much to do here."  
"It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." TK sighed wistfully.  
"Yes, it is impressive, isn't it?" Mike noted cheerfully.  
"But I won't see it again for awhile yet, will I?"  
"No, but don't worry, you'll carry it with you always."  
  
It was approaching evening of the next day when TK woke up. There was the delicious smell of frying fish in the air, and the accompanying smell of roasting vegetables, both of which awoke a ravenous hunger in his stomach. On top of his stomach Patamon dropped, both ears down as he snored away contentedly.  
He was only awake and blinking a few seconds when Kari appeared in his field of vision upside down. It took TK a moment to realize that he was lying down, and that Kari was looking at him from behind his head.   
"Hey everybody, TK's awake."  
"And hungry." TK croaked. "Glad to see you all. How are we doing?"   
"Same old, same old." Ken told him, grinning.  
"That bad? Ah well, I really am glad to see you all. And thanks for sticking around back there. I would have been in real trouble without you."  
"Thanks for being there." Davis told him, clasping TK's hand in his own. There was a moment of silence as everyone felt the bonds of friendship between them harden into something greater and stronger than before, unyielding as cold steel, warm as the summer sun. Then TK's stomach growled. Everybody laughed.  
"Here you go." Gatomon was trying to juggle a platter of something that looked highly edible in his direction.  
Veemon peered his way into TK's field of view. "Well," he announced after a moment of study. "Demi-TK looks just like TK to me!"  
"Demi-TK?" TK asked, and then cut off as everyone else started to grin. He just sighed a lot after that.  
  
"I hope this doesn't happen again. TK might save us from evil, but I think he might eat us now." Davis was taken aback by the sheer amount of food that TK had consumed. And they had thought the Digimon had voracious appetites.  
"I'm hungry." TK mumbled defensively through a mouth full of something.  
"We noticed." Yolei replied.  
"Don't attack him." Veemon piped up. "Everyone knows that in-training Digimon like Demi-TK need lots of food in order to Digivolve."  
Everybody started giggling. TK put down his plate, apparently finished at last, and then just stared at Veemon.  
"Are you done TK?" Kari asked.  
"Yeah." TK was still staring sulkily at Veemon, who was grinning impudently back.  
"Wellthat is" for some reason Kari was beginning to turn more pink than her crest ever made her.  
"What Kari means to say is that she thinks that she should have a talk with you somewhere private. Don't worry about the mess. We'll clean it up, our treat." Yolei popped up suddenly. TK and Kari stared at her, but Yolei and Ken, assisted by Gatomon and Hawkmon, managed to bundle the two up and essentially shove them out the door together.  
"Well, that ought to take care of things." Yolei sighed in relief once the two were out the door.  
"You hope." Ken replied.  
Suddenly Yolei shot bolt upright, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "Oh No! WHERE'S DAVIS!?"  
  
Kari and TK walked for several minutes before settling themselves down on a large pile of smooth rocks to watch the stars come out above. They moved with the jerky, complicated gait of two people who are determined not to make eye contact with the other person they are walking with. Above them the endless points of light whispered their secrets to each other, ignorant of, or ignoring, the ephemeral mortals on the surface below who watched them.  
"Well" Kari began, and stopped.  
TK blushed, which, although invisible, made Kari blush.  
"Is this about what I said earlier, back there?" TK asked after a few moments.  
"Yes." Kari replied.  
"Well," TK felt like he was riding an avalanche, and his words gained speed with every word he said until he felt like he was going to ram into the bottom at any moment. "I did mean it. I don't care where you walk, I will walk with you, because I am your friend. And you aren't just a friend, you're someone I want to share my life with, a lot of my life with, and if you're willing, I will walk with you."  
"Wherever I go?"  
"Wherever."  
"I've wanted that for awhile. Even before all this silliness with girls and boys started I wanted someone to share my life with, to lean on when the darkness tried to overcome me, to be there when I needed them. And I always wanted you to do it, to come with me wherever I went. And I wanted to go with you wherever you needed me."  
"Anywhere?"  
"Everywhere."  
For a moment it was silent, and they both self-consciously scooted closer to each other, eyes still fixed on the constant stars.  
"This isn't a crush or something, like the other kids have, is it?" TK wanted to know after a moment.  
"I don't think so, I think this is a lot deeper than that." Kari watched a star move slowly across the sky as the world turned beneath her. "I think we just need someone to be there for, and who will be there for us, forever. And we need someone who can see into our hearts."  
There was a moment's pause, as the stars continued their divine whispering, and then TK raised a hand in front of Kari. "I would be honored to share my life with you."  
Kari took the hand in her own, gently, an effect that sent shivers down TK's spine as warmth met warmth, completing the circle. "And I yours."  
"Forever?"  
"Forever."  
There was a sudden rustling in the bushes, and then up popped Davis. He was covered in bits of twigs and branches, dimly visible by moonlight, but one thing was very clear. He was wearing a grin so big that it would have made whole battalions of used-car salesmen turn green with envy.  
"Davis!" TK and Kari shouted at the same time, and tried to jump apart, which was a mistake because, in their hurry, they forgot to let go of each other's hands. The result was a sudden lurch that rebounded back on them. Davis grinned at that and raised one clenched fist.  
"I thought I might find you tangled up here in some sort of stare-into-each-others-eyes thing, so I thought I might hurry things up a bit."  
"Huh, what?"  
"Now it goes like this TK, you have two choices. You can lean over and give Kari the best kiss she'll have in her life, or you can stand there while I scatter your teeth all over this forest."  
For a moment there was stupefied silence and then TK, imitating something he had once seen his brother do (and then had been expressly warned to keep to himself) to a fan who kept bugging him. He wrapped one arm around Kari and swung her around fast, waiting for her to gasp in surprise. Then, when her mouth opened, he pressed his mouth to hers, and then stars began to explode in front of their eyes.  
It was probably a good thing that neither of them had ever kissed before, because all the drama made TK lose track of what was going on, and Kari was clearly too caught up in the shock and beauty of the sudden moment, and as a result it turned into a mess. But, from inside, one could almost feel the sudden surge in energies, the sudden flare of power, and then the sudden outpouring of love as the two were joined into a stronger one.  
The kiss broke off as suddenly as it started, both of them gasping for air and trying to deal with the sudden boatload of new sensations that it brought along. For a few moments the universe contained only them, two people alone with each other in the beating of a set of hearts, and then it expanded to reveal four other humans and six Digimon watching them curiously. The two immediately changed hue to a bright fluorescent red.  
"Congrats TK. You too Kari." Davis hugged both of them enthusiastically, almost crushing TK into very small pieces.   
"So, how long did it take you to admit that you really didn't want Kari?" TK asked after a moment.  
"Huh? You knew?" Davis looked puzzled.  
TK smiled enigmatically. "I knew the moment that I realized that MaloMyotismon had no illusion to show you. If that had no effect on you, I reasoned that it was probably because of something like this."  
"Yeah, well" Davis broke off as Kari gave him a peck on the cheek, which made him go bright red.  
"Hey." TK grinned and nudged Kari in the shoulder. "Watch it, I might get jealous."  
"Oh yeah?" She responded and sent him a look that was positively smoldering. TK's eyes expanded fast. It really was going to be an interesting relationship.  
"I guess it's official." Yolei gasped out, and then started crying, just a little. Then she hugged Kari tight.  
"Well TK, glad to have you back. And we already decided that we'll help pay for your tombstone." Ken had an odd glint in his eye.  
"My tombstone?" TK asked suspiciously.  
There was no doubt about it now, the gleam in Ken's eye would have alerted a blind rhinoceros that something was coming. That and the schoolboyish smile. "You may have found a way to fight the powers of darkness and win TK, but that's not going to help you. When he finds out about this, Tai is going to _kill_ you."  
TK gulped at the thought of Tai's overprotective attitude. "I would have done just fine if you hadn't mentioned that part."  
Everyone laughed as Kari put an arm around him and responded. "Don't worry, I'll keep Tai off of you."  
"Congratulations on your achievement of happiness. Long life and good fortune." Cody bowed, very formally, but there was a hint of laughter running loose inside of his eyes.  
"Hooray!" The Digimon all shouted spontaneously, although most of them appeared to be confused with what they were cheering about.  
TK just wrapped an arm around Kari and let her melt into him for a moment.  
"Look up there." Yolei shouted, pointing upward. There, high above them, a huge light, a giant comet, was outlined against the horizon, rising above far away mountains like a star returning to its rightful place in the heavens. A strange, silvery eerie light began to cover the entire land, illuminating them, every last blade of grass and every leaf, in startling detail.  
TK leaned back against a rock, and let Kari's warm weight settle on him, and one arm wrap around him in pleasure. Together they leaned back. TK's other arm went down to rest on Cody's shoulder. Armadillomon came up behind Cody, sitting back to watch the comet, and Patamon resumed his normal spot on TK's head. Gatomon crawled up on Kari's shoulder. Yolei and Ken hovered, perhaps unconsciously, much closer together, with Hawkmon and Wormmon in their arms. Davis, standing just in front of them, had his hands in his pockets in a jaunty pose which Veemon was imitating. For a moment they were all warm and protected, together, all twelve of them. Connected by bonds that were beyond the abilities of most people walking the world, bonds forged in the fires of conflict and disaster, they were now stronger together than ever. Confidence and assurance, friendship and love flowed full circle, locking them all together in one wheel, one fortress of Light in the midst of the waves of darkness.  
Together, united, they stood and watched a star ascend the heavens.  
To Be Continued....   
  
_We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.  
_  


Winston Churchill
  

4 June 1940
  
  
  
_If you do swear to put a tyrant down,  


__You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain_   
_If you do fight against your country's foes,  
Your country's fat shall pay the hire;  
If you do safeguard of your wives,  
Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors;  
If you do free your children from the sword,  
Your children's children quits it in your age.  
Then, in the name of God and all these rights,  
Advance your standards, draw your willing swords.  
For me, the ransom of my bold attempt  
Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face;  
But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt  
The least of you shall share his part thereof.  
Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully;  
God and Saint George! Richmond and victory!_  
  


Richard the Third, Act V, Scene III
  


William Shakespeare
  
  
Last Word: Remember, this will be continued in Storming the Gates, not here. If you think this is a stupid idea (which it might be), feel free to tell me in a review. Thanks for reading! -danAlwyn   



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